Some Bulgars remained in the former Onoguria, under the domination of the Khazars.
Balkars Some also believe that the present-day
Balkars of the
Caucasus are the descendants of the Batbayan horde even though they speak a
Turkic language of the
Kipchak type.
Volga Bulgars After
Kotrag, the leader of the Kutrigurs, took control of the western steppe, Batbayan led them into the upper
Volga-Ural region. There they established
Volga Bulgaria, at the confluence of the Volga and
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 attacks in 1223. However, they were eventually subdued, their capital
Bolghar city became one of the major cities of the
Golden Horde of the Mongols and the Bulgars mixed with the
Tatars. The citizens of the modern
Russian republics of
Tatarstan and
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,
Slavs, and
Germanic tribes – as a vassal of the
Avar Khagan. After a revolt, he led his people to
Macedonia. There he settled in the region of Keremisia and made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the city of
Thessaloniki. After this, he disappeared from history and his people were later consolidated into the
First Bulgarian Empire by
Khan Krum.
Bulgars in Italy Other Bulgars, circa 662, led by their "Duke Alzeco" (
Alcek) sought refuge from the
Avars with the
Lombards and requested land from the
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 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". 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 artefacts of
Germanic and
Avar origin. Horse burials are characteristic of
Central Asian horse-nomads, and therefore these burials are clearly those of the Bulgar settlers of Molise and
Campania.
First Bulgarian Empire After the state disintegrated under the 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. 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==