((Short description|632–668 nomadic empire in Eastern Europe))
((For|the children's book and television character|The Wombles((!))Great Uncle Bulgaria))
((distinguish|First Bulgarian Empire))
((Redirect-distinguish|Great Bulgaria|Bulgarian irredentism))
((pp-dispute|small=yes))
((More citations needed|date=September 2016))
((Infobox country
|native_name = 
|conventional_long_name = Old Great Bulgaria
|common_name = Old Great Bulgaria
|
|era = Middle Ages
|status = Empire
|government_type = Absolute monarchy
|religion =[[Tengrism]]<ref name="Chronicle">[[John of Nikiû]], [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/nikiu2_chronicle.htm ''Chronicle'']</ref><br/> [[Christianity]] ((sfn|Golden|1992|p=245))((sfn|Golden|2011|p=145))
|
|common_languages = [[Bulgar language|Bulgar]]
|
|year_start = 632<ref>Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250, Florin Curta, Cambridge University Press, 2006, ((ISBN|0521815398)), p. 78.</ref>
|year_end = 668
|
|event_start = [[Kubrat]] inherits the throne
|date_start =
|event1 = [[Batbayan]] inherits the throne
|date_event1 = 665
|event_end = Old Great Bulgaria is conquered by the [[Khazars]]
|date_end =
|
|p1 = Onogurs
|flag_p1 =
|p2 = Kazarig
|flag_p2 =
|p3 = Avar Khaganate
|flag_p3 =
|s1 = First Bulgarian Empire
|flag_s1 =
|s2 = Volga Bulgaria
|flag_s2 =
|s3 = Khazar Khaganate
|flag_s3 =
|
|image_flag =
|flag =
|flag_type =
|
|image_coat =
|symbol =
|symbol_type =
|
|image_map = Old Geat Bulgaria.svg|
|image_map_caption = ((legend|#a4a633|Old Great Bulgaria))
|
|capital = [[Phanagoria]]<br><small>(632–665)</small> 
|currency =
|leader1 = [[Kubrat]]
|leader2 = [[Batbayan]]
|year_leader1 = 632–665
|year_leader2 = 665–668
|title_leader = [[Khan (title)|Khan]]
|deputy1 =
|year_deputy1 =
|title_deputy =
|
|stat_year1 = 7th century
|stat_area1 =
|stat_pop1 =
|stat_year2 =
|stat_area2 =
|footnotes =
|today = [[Russia]]<br>[[Ukraine]]
| demonym = [[Bulgars|Bulgar]]
))
'''Old Great Bulgaria''' ([[Medieval Greek]]: Παλαιά Μεγάλη Βουλγαρία, ''Palaiá Megálē Voulgaría''), also often known by the [[Latin]] names ''Magna Bulgaria''((sfn|Fiedler|2008|p=152)) and ''Patria Onoguria'' ("[[Onoğurs|Onogur]] land"),<ref>([[Agathias]], [[Priscus]], [[Zacharias Rhetor]], and Pseudo-Zecharias Rhetor((clarify|date=August 2016)))</ref> was a 7th-century Turkic [[nomadic empire]] formed by the [[Onogurs|Onogur]]-[[Bulgars]] on the western [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] (modern southern [[Ukraine]] and southwest [[Russia]]).<ref>((cite book|last1=Leif Inge Ree Petersen|title=Siege Warfare and Military Organization in the Successor States (400-800 AD|date=2013|pages=112))</ref> Great Bulgaria was originally centered between the [[Dniester]] and lower [[Volga]].

The original capital was [[Phanagoria]]<ref>[[Theophanes the Confessor|Theophanes]], [http://www.kroraina.com/p_bulgar/p_bulg5.htm Op. cit., p. 356-357]</ref> on the [[Taman Peninsula]] between the [[Black Sea|Black]] and [[Sea of Azov|Azov]] seas. In the mid-7th century, Great Bulgaria expanded west to include [[Pannonian Avars|Avar territory]] and was centered on [[Poltava]]. During the late 7th century, however, an [[Pannonian Avars|Avar-Slavic alliance]] in the west, and [[Khazars]] in the east, defeated the Bulgars, and Great Bulgaria disintegrated. Successor states are the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] and [[Volga Bulgaria]].

==Origins==
((main|Origin of the Bulgars))

The etymology of the ethnonym ''[[wikt:Bulgar|Bulgar]]'' is not completely understood; it is difficult to trace the name back earlier than the 4th century AD.<ref name="Gurov">((cite web |first= Dilian|last= Gurov |date= March 2007 |title= The Origins of the Bulgars |url= https://www.nada.kth.se/~dilian/bulgars.pdf |pages= 3))</ref>((sfn|Golden|1992|p=103–104)) It is generally believed to derive from the [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] verb ''bulğha'' (to "stir", "mix", "disturb", "confuse"),((sfn|Bowersock, Brown, Grabar|1999|p= 354)) possibly suggesting that other [[Turkic peoples]] regarded the [[Bulgars]] as a "mixed" people,((sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p= 384)) or as "rebellious".((sfn|Chen|2012|p=97))<ref>
((cite book |author= Leif Inge Ree Petersen |date= 2013|title= Siege Warfare and Military Organization in the Successor States (400-800 AD): Byzantium, the West and Islam|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BRGaAAAAQBAJ |publisher= Brill|pages= 369 |isbn= 9789004254466))</ref>((sfn|Golden|1992|p= 104))((sfn|Golden|2011|p= 143))((sfn|Golden|1992|p= 104))((sfn|Golden|2011|p= 143))

Later [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] scholars implied that the Bulgars had previously been known as the [[Onogurs]] (''Onoğur''). Agathon wrote about the "nation of Onogur Bulğars",((citation needed|date= April 2018)) [[Nikephoros I of Constantinople|Nikephoros I]] stated that [[Kubrat]] was lord of the ''Onogundurs'', [[Theophanes the Confessor|Theophanes]] referred to them as ''Onogundur Bulgars'' and [[Constantine VII]] remarked that the Bulgars formerly called themselves ''Onogundurs''. Variations of the name include ''Onoguri, Onoghuri, Onghur, Ongur, Onghuri, Onguri, Onogundur, Unogundur'', and ''Unokundur''. There are several theories about the origin of the name ''Onogur''. In some Turkic languages ''on'' means "10" and ''ğur'' "arrow"; and "ten arrows" might imply a federation of ten tribes, i.e. the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]]. Within the [[Turkic languages]], "z" sounds in the easternmost languages tend to have become "r" in the westernmost Turkic languages; therefore, the ethnonym [[Turkic tribal confederations|Oghuz]] may be the source of ''Oghur''; that is, ''on Oğur'' would mean "ten clans of Oghuz".

==Establishment==
Between 630 and 635, [[Khan (title)|Khan]] Kubrat managed to unite the Onogur Bulgars with the tribes of the [[Kutrigurs]] and [[Utigurs]] under a single rule, creating a powerful confederation which was referred to by the [[medieval]] authors in [[Western Europe]] as Old Great Bulgaria,<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople]], ''Historia syntomos, breviarium''</ref> or ''Patria Onoguria''. According to some scholars, it is more correctly called the Onogundur-Bulgar Empire.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131021002118/http://www2.lingfil.uu.se/afro/turkiskasprak/IP2007/ZimonyiIP.pdf Zimonyi Istvan: "History of the Turkic speaking peoples in Europe before the Ottomans".] (Uppsala University: Institute of Linguistics and Philology) (archived from [http://www.lingfil.uu.se/afro/turkiskasprak/IP2007/ZimonyiIP.pdf the original] ((webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722135727/http://www2.lingfil.uu.se/afro/turkiskasprak/IP2007/ZimonyiIP.pdf |date=2012-07-22 )) on 2013-10-21)</ref>

Some scholars((who|date=September 2016)) assume that it stretched as far west as the [[Pannonian Plain]] and included among its subjects some of the [[Pannonian Avars]]. It is presumed that Kubrat's capital was the ancient city of [[Phanagoria]] on the [[Taman Peninsula]]. Kubrat's grave was discovered in 1912 at [[Pereshchepina Treasure|Pereshchepina]], [[Ukraine]].<ref>Rasho Rashev, ''Die Protobulgaren im 5.-7. Jahrhundert'', Orbel, Sofia, 2005 (in Bulgarian, German summary)</ref>

===Khan Kubrat===
((main|Kubrat))
According to the ''[[Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans]]'', Kubrat was from the royal clan [[Dulo]] and a rightful heir to the Bulgar throne. He was awarded the title of [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] (honorary, high title for a nobleman) by the Byzantine emperor [[Heraclius]].<ref name="ReferenceB">Mingazov S. Kubrat - the Ruler of Great Bulgaria and Ketrades - character of John of Nikiu work - Kazan: Institute of History of Academy of Science of Republic of Tatarstan, 2012</ref> [[Hermann Zotenberg]] (1883), while translating [[John of Nikiu]]'s ''Chronicles'' from Old Ethiopian, intentionally replaced the name Qetrades to Kubrat. Since then, the historiography holds a misconception that Kubrat was raised and baptized by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] court, while John's character Qetrades has no real-life connection to the ruler of the Great Bulgaria Kubrat.<ref name="Chronicle"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/>

Kubrat quickly managed to overthrow [[Avar Khaganate|Avar]] domination, extending [[Onogurs|Onogur]] influence among the Bulgars in [[Pannonian Basin|Pannonia]] in what became known as [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]]. Ultimately, although there is no evidence that the Utigurs were independent of the Onogurs until after Kubrat's empire disintegrated, it is believed he seceded from the Onogurs when they became entangled in dynastic wars. After Kubrat's burial in [[Pereshchepina Treasure|Mala Pereshchepina]], the [[Khazars]], who had triumphed in the collapse of Onoguria, subjugated Kubrat's eldest son and heir [[Batbayan]], forcing his other sons to flee north up the [[Volga]] (2nd son Kotrag) and west into the [[Balkans]] (4th son [[Kuber]] and 3rd son [[Asparukh]]) and [[Italy]] (5th son Alcek, Alzek)<ref>[http://philology-and-culture.kpfu.ru/?q=system/files/39_0.pdf Mingazov S. The Heirs of Great Bulgaria in Western Europe// Philology and Culture. - 2012. - No. 1 (27).- S. 201-207.] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120225437/http://philology-and-culture.kpfu.ru/?q=system%2Ffiles%2F39_0.pdf |date=2022-01-20 )) .</ref>

==Disintegration==
The events following Kubrat's death are described by the [[Byzantine Patriarch]] [[Nikephoros I of Constantinople|Nikephoros I]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In the times of [[List of Byzantine emperors|Emperor]] [[Constantine IV]], he narrates, Kubrat died and Batbayan, the eldest of his five sons, was left in charge of the state. Under strong Khazar pressure, Kubrat's other sons disregarded their father's advice to stay together in order to resist the enemies and soon departed, taking their own tribes.

Old Great Bulgaria disintegrated under Khazar pressure in 668.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_-G1L-9Zec0C&q=old+great+Bulgaria+&pg=PA104 The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans, Florin Curta, BRILL, 2008], ((ISBN|9004163891)), p. 351.</ref>

== Aftermath ==
[[File:Old Great Bulgaria and migration of Bulgarians.png|thumb|left|280px|Bulgar settlements in the 6th and 7th centuries]]
Some Bulgars remained in the former Onoguria, under the domination of the Khazars.

===Balkars===
Some((who|date=March 2014)) also believe that the present-day [[Balkars]] of the [[Caucasus]] are the descendants of the Batbayan horde even though they <!-- call themselves Malkars (after the river [[Malka (river)|Malka]]) and--> speak a [[Turkic languages|Turkic language]] of the [[Kipchak languages|Kipchak]] type.

===Volga Bulgars===
((main|Volga Bulgaria))
After [[Kotrag]], the leader of the Kutrigurs, took control on the western steppe, Batbayan led them into the upper [[Idel-Ural|Volga-Ural region]]. There they established [[Volga Bulgaria]], at the confluence of the Volga and [[Kama River|Kama]]. As the Volga or Silver Bulgars (''Bessermens''), they converted voluntarily to [[Islam]] in the 9th century. They managed to preserve their national identity well into the 13th century, by repelling the first [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] attacks in 1223. However, they were eventually subdued, their capital [[Bolghar]] city became one of major cities of the [[Golden Horde]] of the Mongols and the Bulgars mixed with the [[Tatars]]. The citizens of the modern [[Russian Federation|Russian]] republics of [[Tatarstan]] and [[Chuvashia Republic|Chuvashia]] are considered to be descendants of those Bulgars.

===Bulgars in Vojvodina and Macedonia===
[[Kuber]] ruled in [[Sirmium]] over a mixed group of peoples – Bulgars, Byzantine subjects, [[Early Slavs|Slavs]], and [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[tribes]] – as a vassal of the [[Avar Khaganate|Avar]] [[Khagan]]. After a revolt he led his people to [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]. There he settled in the region of Keremisia and made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the city of [[Thessaloniki]]. After this, he disappears from history and his people were later consolidated into the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] by [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Krum]].

===Bulgars in Italy===
Other Bulgars, circa 662, led by their "Duke Alzeco" ([[Alcek]]) sought refuge from the [[Avar Khaganate|Avars]] with the [[Lombards]] and requested land from the [[Grimoald, King of the Lombards|Lombard King Grimoald I]] in exchange for military service "for an uncertain reason", initially staying near [[Ravenna]] and later moving further south. Grimoald sent Alcek and his followers to his son [[Romuald I of Benevento|Romuald]] in [[Benevento]] and they were then granted by Romuald land northeast of [[Naples]] in the "spacious but up till that time deserted" towns of [[Sepino]], Bovianum ([[Boiano]]), and [[Isernia]], in the present-day region of [[Molise]] in the [[Apennines]]. Instead of the title "Duke", Altzek was granted the Lombard title of "[[Gastald]]". [[Paul the Deacon]] in his ''[[Historia Langobardorum]]'' writing after the year 787 says that in his time Bulgars still inhabited the area, and that even though they speak "Latin", "they have not forsaken the use of their own tongue".<ref>((cite book | last = Diaconis | first = Paulus | author-link = Paul the Deacon | title = Historia Langobardorum | date = 787 | location = Monte Cassino, Italy | url = http://www.northvegr.org/lore/langobard/033.php | no-pp = true | page = Book V chapter 29 | access-date = 2012-08-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080517112407/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/langobard/033.php | archive-date = 2008-05-17 | url-status = dead ))</ref>

Excavations in the necropolis of Vicenne-[[Campochiaro]] near Boiano, which dates from the 7th century, found among 130 burials that there were 13 human burials alongside horses along with artifacts of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] and [[Pannonian Avars|Avar]] origin.<ref>((cite journal|title=Sepolture Con Cavallo Da Vicenne (Cb)|journal=I° Congresso Nazionale di Archeologia Medievale.|year=2001|first=Bruno|last=Genito|url=http://192.167.112.135/NewPages/COLLANE/TESTISAMI/SAMI1/48.PDF|access-date=2007-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060602175209/http://192.167.112.135/NewPages/COLLANE/TESTISAMI/SAMI1/48.PDF|archive-date=June 2, 2006|url-status=dead))</ref><ref>((cite journal|title=Anthropological and cultural features of a skeletal sample of horsemen from the medieval necropolis of Vicenne-Campochiaro (Molise, Italy)|journal=Collegium Antropologicum|year=2001|first=M. G.|last=Belcastro|author2=Faccini F.|volume=25|issue=2|pages=387–401|pmid=11811269|url=http://www.collantropol.hr/_doc/Coll.%20Antropol.%2025%20(2001)%202:%20387%E2%80%93401.pdf|access-date=2007-09-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227090628/http://www.collantropol.hr/_doc/Coll.%20Antropol.%2025%20(2001)%202:%20387%E2%80%93401.pdf|archive-date=2009-02-27))</ref><ref>((cite web |url=http://www.italia.it/it/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,SIG56921Pit,curr,EUR,parentId,RGN21it,season,at1,selectedEntry,artculture/intern.html |title=Longobard necropolis of Campochiaro |access-date=2007-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106041902/http://www.italia.it/it/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,SIG56921Pit,curr,EUR,parentId,RGN21it,season,at1,selectedEntry,artculture/intern.html |archive-date=November 6, 2007 |url-status=dead ))</ref> Horse burials are characteristic of [[Central Asia]]n horse-nomads, and therefore these burials are clearly those of the Bulgar settlers of Molise and [[Campania]].<ref>Conte Miltenova, N. - I Bulgari di [[Gallo Matese]] - Prefazione e postfazione di Giuseppe Mario Tufarulo Passaporto Editore, Roma, 1993. - C.N.R.</ref>

===First Bulgarian Empire===
((main|First Bulgarian Empire))
After the state disintegrated under Khazar attack in 668, [[Asparukh]] parted ways with his brothers and led some of the Bulgars to seek a secure home. He was followed by 30,000 to 50,000 Bulgars.<ref>[http://www.promacedonia.org/vz1a/vz1a_b1_1.html Васил Н. Златарски. История на Първото българско Царство. Епоха на хуно-българското надмощие с. 188.]</ref>

After the [[Battle of Ongal]], Asparukh founded the First Bulgarian Empire, which was officially recognized as an independent state by the Byzantine Empire in 681.

==See also==
*[[Transdanubian Bulgaria]]
*[[Mount Imeon]]

==References==
((reflist|30em))

==Sources==
* ((Cite book|last=Charles|first=Robert H.|author-link=Robert Charles (scholar)|title=The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text|year=2007|orig-year=1916|location=Merchantville, NJ|publisher=Evolution Publishing|isbn=9781889758879|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgZ-DOr77OQC))
* ((Cite book|last=Ostrogorsky|first=George|author-link=George Ostrogorsky|year=1956|title=History of the Byzantine State|location=Oxford|publisher=Basil Blackwell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ))

== External links ==
((portalbar|Bulgaria))
*[http://www.kroraina.com/p_bulgar/p_bulg5.htm Old Great Bulgaria - facts and sources]
*[http://kroraina.com/macedon/mikul.html Ivan Mikulčić, ''Towns and castles in medieval Macedonia'', Makedonska civilizacija, Skopje, 1996] (in Macedonian)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100604083401/https://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/europe/bulgaria.html The Bulgarians, Minnesota State University]
 
((Turkic topics)) 
((Bulgaria topics))
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[[Category:States and territories established in the 630s]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 660s]]
[[Category:Former countries in Europe]]
[[Category:Bulgars]]
[[Category:Medieval Russia]]
[[Category:Medieval Ukraine]]
[[Category:Moldova in the Early Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Romania in the Early Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Barbarian kingdoms]]
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