Proto-Bulgarians

Bulgarian Runic Inscriptions in Europe during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
The Bulgarian runic script is the first in time and a separate branch of the Orkhon-Yenisei runic script. Inscriptions of the Bulgarian runic script are left from the Yenisei to Central Europe, such as: Грешен съм, Тангра; Държавата на Дуло; Да пие Аспарух; Блюдото, от което да се храни Аспарух; Гробът на Кърчи - да го поменем; Надгробният камък на старейшина Джугутур, годината, когато той беше поставен, е Козирог, м. Десети Погребението чрез кремация на княз Йогюн, ние ти намерихме нов другар, застани пред Бога.

Near the present-day Poltava village of Malaya Pereschepina in Ukraine is buried our Bulgarian dear ancestor, the great Bulgarian and the Roman patrician Khan Kurt-Kubrat († 665); the founder and long-time ruler of the Caucasian Proto-Bulgarian Empire, Old Great Bulgaria, which is the second European Bulgarian state after the West Hun Empire of Atilla-Avitohol and the earlier one of New Great Bulgaria of Khan Asparuh; one of the most significant figures in Asia and Europe since the first half of the 7th century; a brave warrior crusader, a great commander, a skilful diplomat, the richest and most influential emperor of the entire then world, from the Chinese Empire to the east and the Roman Empire to the west; the Bulgarian ruler who dared to oppose the strongmen of the West Turkic and Avar Kaganates of the day; he defeated the mighty Sasanian-Persian Empire, prevented the death of the great Byzantine Empire and saved the Holy Cross of the Lord from Persian captivity.
All the silver and gold objects and articles from the tomb of Khan Kubrat he has them and owns as his own heritage from the previous Bulgarian khans; as a fighting trophy acquired personally by him with a weapon in his hand during battles with the Persians; as gifts mainly from the Byzantine emperors and as invaluable works of art at the jewelry studio in his court.

THE PROTO-BULGARIAN INSCRIPTIONS ON THE VESSELS OF THE BULGARIAN GOLDEN TREASURE FROM NAGY SZENT-MIKLÓS
There are three kinds of inscriptions on the vessels of the Treasure - Greek, proto-Bulgarian using Greek characters, and runic proto-Bulgarian.
The translation of the Greek language inscription on two of the golden cups is as follows: Jesus Christ, reassure this servant of Yours, setting him free of his sin. These two golden cups were used by Tsar Boris the Baptist, at the time of his and his family’s baptism, in the beginning of the autumn of 865.
The Golden Cup № 21 is a gift from the jupan (regional governor, governor-general) in Transdanubian Bulgaria named Boila to the jupan named Butaul, and the inscription is as follows: The cup for which jupan Boila ordered after coating it, to inscribe, and from which jupan Butaul to drink for his health.
On 6 of the vessels, there is a runic inscription, which translates as To drink Asparuh, i.e. this is the cup or bowl from which to drink Asparuh.

The Chinese by Origin Proto-Bulgarian Titles Ban and Zhupan of Noblemans from the First Bulgarian Kingdom
In Late Antiquity from the China, the Inner Asian Bulgarians learn, perceive or borrow the construction of walls, the glazing of ceramic vessels, the distillation of alcohol, the twelve-year cycle calendar, the words kniga and bukva, titles such as ban, zhupan, kagan, tigin, etc.
The Proto-Bulgarian title ban has as its basis and beginning the ancient Chinese title wang „emperor; tsar; prince; nobleman“.
Medieval Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Hungarian, Czech, Romanian and others title župan is Proto-Bulgarian in origin. It has its genetic-historical basis in the late ancient Chinese language and has passed from here to the Turkic languages in general and in the Bulgarian languages in particular somewhere around the beginning of the New Era. It is based on the late ancient Chinese title tsou-pan „secretary; chancellor” with the modern continuation wáng-zuò/wángzhŏu „closest assistant to the emperor; highest nobleman“.
Immediately after its establishment and consolidation on the other side of the Danube, Khan Asparuh began to organize and resettle the Slavic clans and tribes, appointing them proto-Bulgarian dignitaries as bans and zhupans, but this practice continued under Khan Krum and Khan Omurtag. That is why, even long after that, the South-West Slavic tribes had as tribal chiefs zhupans, who, however, were no longer Proto-Bulgarians but Slavs by origin, while some of the princes and boyars of the Vlach-Bulgarian principalities across the Danube even after the 15th century are still titled as bans and zhupans.

We report the presence of significant Central Asian ancestry in both contemporary Bulgarians and in early medieval population from SMC (Saltovo Mayaky Culture). The existence of Chalcolithic Iran (Hajj Fruz) and Wusun related ancestral component in contemporary Bulgarians comes as a surprise and sheds light on both migration route and ethnic origins of ProtoBulgarians. We interpret these results as an evidence for a Central Asian connection for the tribes, constituting the population of SMC and Kubrats Old Great Bulgaria in Pontic steppe from 6th and 7th century AD. We identify Central Asian Wusun tribes as carriers of this component on the base from the results from f3 and f4 statistics. We suggest that Wusun related tribes must have played role (or might have even been the backbone) in what became known as the Hunnic migration to Europe during 3rd 5th century AD. Same population must have taken part in the formation of the SMC (Saltovo Mayaki Culture) and Great Old Bulgarian during 6th 9th century AD in Pontic Caspian steppe. We also explore the genomic origins of Thracians and their relations to contemporary Europeans. We conclude that contemporary Bulgarians do not harbor Thracian-specific ancestry, since ancient Thracian samples share more SNPs with contemporary Greeks and even contemporary Icelanders than with contemporary Bulgarians

The Huns are the immortal topic of human pioneering spirits. They are the first Asiatic nomads to make the trans-continental expeditions, precursors to the Turks and the Mongols. Their impact was felt in ancient Rome as well as in ancient China.
Chanyu then wrote to Han emperor, stating: "Han Chinese to the south and 'Hu' people to the north ...the so-called "Hu" meant the 'privileged son of the Heaven'... I [chanyu] want to renew the intermarriage with Han princess..."

In essence and function, the heraldic sign tamgha of the Proto-Bulgarian ruler clan Dulo is a sign of ownership with one primary-basic function-the possession, and two secondary-derived and additional functions-the representative (representative) and the protective (apotropheic). Khan Asparuh ordered the tamgha of the Dulo clan to be carved on a suitable stone to be built over the main gate of the Belgorod Fortress as a sign that there is a descendant of the Dulo clan, who is also a ruler, a khan of the entrusting Proto-Bulgarian tribes. He directed the repair of the Drustress fortress and ordered the tamgha of Dulo clan to be carved on the fortress walls. The wall in front of the village of Byala, Varna district is the last and the most southern wall that Khan Asparuh builds. On it the tamgha of the Dulo clan is carved between two Runic letters, so the whole inscription translates as The State of Dulo. The urns with the ashes of the khans and their wives from the First Bulgarian Kingdom are stored in a special pit into the most hidden underground tunnel connected to the palace of Khan Krum. The title канартигин is formed on the basis of the Proto-Bulgarian expression *каган-ирт-тикин, literally "prince-after-kagan", i.e. "crown prince".

The Roman Patrician Khan Kubrat
Near the present-day Poltava village of Malaya Pereschepina in Ukraine is buried our Bulgarian dear ancestor, the great Bulgarian and the Roman patrician Khan Kurt-Kubrat († 665); the founder and long-time ruler of the Caucasian Proto-Bulgarian Empire, Old Great Bulgaria, which is the second European Bulgarian state after the West Hun Empire of Atilla-Avitohol and the earlier one of New Great Bulgaria of Khan Asparuh; one of the most significant figures in Asia and Europe since the first half of the 7th century; a brave warrior crusader, a great commander, a skilful diplomat, the richest and most influential emperor of the entire then world, from the Chinese Empire to the east and the Roman Empire to the west; the Bulgarian ruler who dared to oppose the strongmen of the West Turkic and Avar Kaganates of the day; he defeated the mighty Sasanian-Persian Empire, prevented the death of the great Byzantine Empire and saved the Holy Cross of the Lord from Persian captivity.
All the silver and gold objects and articles from the tomb of Khan Kubrat he has them and owns as his own heritage from the previous Bulgarian khans; as a fighting trophy acquired personally by him with a weapon in his hand during battles with the Persians; as gifts mainly from the Byzantine emperors and as invaluable works of art at the jewelry studio in his court.

Khan Kubrat imposes a powerful deadly blow on the Sasanidperpish Empire, prevents the destruction of the Byzantine Empire, saves and returns to Christianity the Holy Cross of the Lord. The Persians were defeated and the Holy Cross of the Lord was returned to his place in Jerusalem thanks only to the Bulgarians. The Coalition Greek-Bulgarian war with the Persians represents a sacred war in the form of a crusade. The Bulgarians are the first crusaders of the world and have the greatest merit and contribution to the entire Christian world and civilization, because they are just exporting the main burden and solving the outcome of the war. It is precisely because of all this, and today, we Bulgarians, in no way and for any reason, to forget the great epoch of our native Bulgarian history, and with full right we can and should be proud to have saved the Holy Cross of the Lord and we have returned it to all Christians in the world, including ourselves!

EARLY BYZANTINE ELEMENTS OF THE PRESTIGIOUS HORSE
HARNESS WITH CLOISONNÉ INLAID DECORATION
IN THE POST-HUNNIC PERIOD
(Eastern Europe, Danube Area, and Eurasian Steppes)The elements of prestigious horse harness of the Early Byzantine origin, decorated with
cloisonné inlay style, have long been identified among the steppe nomads of the Post-Hunnic Period (the
so-called Shipovo horizon from the second third of the fifth to the second third of the sixth centuries), as
well as among the sedentary barbarians in Eastern and Central Europe. These finds include disc-shaped
badges or plaques or appliques, rectangular belt-ends, and horse bits with zoomorphic images. Now
it is difficult to infer specific mechanisms for the distribution of prestigious Early Byzantine artefacts
in the Barbaricum in the Post-Hunnic Period. It looks like that apart from the usual military trophies
these items could have been included in diplomatic gifts. Written sources testify to specific cases of
donation of horse accessories (saddles) to barbarian leaders. Along with weapons, these artefacts could
also be obtained as a result of a symbolic investment of the Empire’s allies on behalf of the emperor.
The hypothesis of making the artefacts in the cloisonné inlay style directly in the Barbaricum seems
less probable, though the presence there of craftsmen including those who knew the technique of
the Constantinople jewellery “school” is quite possible. However, it should be remembered that the
technique of sawing and processing precious stones was particularly complex and was owned by a very
limited number of craftsmen. Therefore, the overwhelming majority of barbarian jewellery pieces from
the Hunnic and Post-Hunnic Periods used the secondary-used stones, in contrast to the case of the finds
in steppe, like those from Morskoi Chulek, Bylym-Kudinetovo, Ialpug, or Altynkazgan. Rather, the
latter were made in the Mediterranean workshops.

The Chinese by Origin Proto-Bulgarian Titles Kagan, and Khan, with Kavhan, of Rulers from the First Bulgarian Kingdom
The Bulgarian tribes and peoples appeared on the historical stage at the end of the third millennium BC, and in Inner Asia, they are a huge military-political and geostrategic force. For many centuries, the Bulgarians not only quarrel or fought, but also communicated with the numerous tribes and peoples of Inner Asia, and especially with the Chinese. From them the Bulgarians learn, perceive or borrow the construction of walls, the glazing of ceramic vessels, the casting of cast iron, the distillation of alcohol, the twelve-year cycle calendar, especially the indicative for a sufficiently high level of civilization and culture words kniga „book“, and bukva „letter“ with their respective objects, the individual components of the hierarchically stratified intra-social organization titles such as ban, zhupan, tarkan, khan, kagan, tigin, etc.
The Chinese by origin Proto-Bulgarian position-rank title kagan, Latin cagan, Greek χαγάν/κανα is based on ancient Chinese γwāŋ-γwāŋ; position-rank title khan has its origins in Chinese kuan or γwã. The derivative on this basis position-rank title kavhan is formed according to the rules of Persian syntax with the help of Middle Persian title kav „tribal chief; prince; tsar".

In 595-599, and during the reign of Emperor Mauritius (582-603), Khan Organá arrived in Constantinople with a large suite of dignitaries with their wives. All Bulgarians are baptized, the khan is awarded the title of "patrician" and is presented with a gold ring with the inscription Оρχανου Πατρικου. Han Organá leaves Prince Kurt in Constantinople hostage. Here he lives in the imperial palace, and studies at the university at the palace of Magnavre. Proof of this is the gold-plated silver handwashing service with the seal of Emperor Mauritius.
In 605, the Western Turks reorganized their two wings of tribal groups, to which they appointed shades or princes as commander-in-chief of troops. Prince Kurt was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the West Wing.
In 621-622, Emperor Heraclius launched the last and most important military campaign against Persia. He asks for the help of Khan Organá, who provides him with a support for a large force of heavy cavalry with siege equipment, led by Prince Kurt-Kubrat. Thanks to the Bulgarians, the Persians were defeated, the temple city of Shiza, the royal residence of Dastakard and the capital of Ctesiphon were conquered. Here Khan Kubrat discovers the Holy Cross of the Lord, passes it on to Heraclius, who returns it and places it in Jerusalem.
Among the vessels of the Gold Treasure from Nagy Saint-Miklos there are six Persian gold jugs for religious purposes. Their Kubrat khan acquired them as a war trophy after taking over the temple city of Shiza and handed them over to Khan Asparuh when he separated with his sons. A trophy from the Persian War are both Khan Kubrat's gold bracelets, made as early as the Achaemenids. The dish for eating of Shapur II (309-379) is his gift to the king of Chionit Grum-bat, after which it is passed between the khans of the Dullo clan and thus reaches the Khan of Kubrat. Khan Kubrat's ceremony sword is a war trophy of Heraclius in the battle with Rahzad.
Shortly before 11/02/642, Khan Kubrat arrived in Constantinople, headed by a state delegation, negotiating with the Emperors and Martina. Then, on Bishop Tommy's discos, he was presented with a gold necklace with coins of Emperor Constance.

The Chinese by Origin Proto-Bulgarian Titles Kanartigin, Sü-bigi, Tarkan, and Turun of Nobleman's from the First Bulgarian Kingdom
Bulgarian tribes and peoples appeared on the historical stage at the end of the third millennium BC, and in Inner Asia, they are a huge military-political and geostrategic force. For many centuries, Bulgarians not only fought or fought, but also communicated with the numerous tribes and peoples of Central Asia and especially with the Chinese. From them the Bulgarians learn, perceive or borrow the construction of walls, the glazing of ceramic vessels, the casting of cast iron, the distillation of alcohol, the twelve-year cycle calendar, especially the words книга „book“, and буква „letter“, with their respective objects, denoting and naming the individual components of the hierarchically stratified intra-social organization titles such as ban, zhupan, tarkan, khan, kagan, tigin, etc.
The Chinese by Origin Proto-Bulgarian position-rank title kanartigin, Greek κανάρατίκείνος „heir to the throne“ is based on Ancient Chinese t'a-kin < d'ek-g'ien, d'ak(lek)-g'ien; position-rank title sü-bigi, Greek συβηγη „commander in chief“ - Ancient Chinese śwò/shù, Middle Chinese śü, and Middle Chinese päik/рặiк; the prestigious-honorary title tarkan, Greek ταρκανος - Middle Chinese that-kwan/that-kuan; the prestigious-honorary title turun, Old Bulgarian дрѫгъ - Middle Chinese to-thoŋ/to-tok.

THE GOLDEN TREASURES OF THE BULGARIAN SAVIORS OF THE HOLY CROSS
The exquisitely magnificent gold and silver vessels found on May 12, 1912 in the tomb of Khan Kubrat, the gilded sword with a wide leather belt, only the buckle of which is almost 0.5 kg of solid gold, the gold rings with its monogram and all other gold and silver objects , jewelry, ornaments and coins with a total weight of 25 kg for gold and 50 kg for silver, more than 800 in total, and in general are the largest, richest and uniquely unsurpassed in the world silver-gold treasure, widely known also as the Famous Treasure of Malaya Pereshchepina, and are masterpieces of proto-Bulgarian, Persian and Byzantine goldsmith art.
The Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum houses the world-famous and extremely highly artistic Golden Treasure of Nagy Saint-Miklos. It was found on July 3, 1799 by their Serbian farmer Voin Nehru, while digging, in the vineyard of the Bulgarian merchants, the Nakovi brothers from the Austro-Hungarian town of Nagy Szent-Miklós, inhabited by Bulgarians, Hungarians and Romanians. The Nakovi brothers presented the treasure to Emperor Joseph II, who awarded them noble titles. Based on this story, the writer Moore Yokai wrote the novel Gypsy Baron, and the composer Johann Strauss created the operetta of the same name.
The treasure consists of 24 vessels of various shapes and sizes, made of very high gold sample, mainly 21 and 22 carats: 8 large jugs, 1 dish or tray, 4 tassel shallow cups or bowls with hanging buckle, 4 cups, both of which can be called pitchers, 3 zoomorphic bowls, but rather cups or glasses, 2 pateras, ie. loose-shallow ladles, 1 rhyton or golden drinking horn, 1 deep and large cup or bowl, all with a total weight of 9,926 kg, i.e. almost 10 kg.
The exceptionally great cultural-historical value and value of the Golden Treasure by Nagy Saint-Miklos also stems from the fact that its vessels were collected and used personally by the proto-Bulgarian rulers, among whom the forefather of the Bulgarians Khan Kubrat and the founder of the Bulgarian state in the Balkans Khan Asparuh, with two of the cups baptizing the first Christian Bulgarian ruler Prince Boris and his family, the role and importance of himself as a statesman and person, as well as his epoch-making work not only for Bulgarian history, but also for European history, and hence for the whole of world history, will forever remain vast and unsurpassed.

The Proto-Bulgarian Origin of the Place Name Balchik
Името води своето начало от прабългарската лексема *balq , преминала от източноиранския праезик, където трябва да има и семантически напълно подходящ, а и фонетически почти тъждествен на дртюрк. *balq първичен лексикален корен етимон под формата на изтир. *wälγ “голям, висок; горен, планински; преграда, стена”, което идва от ир. *upairi “наверху”, отклонява се към западноиранските езици от една страна в ав. upairi “наверху; сверх”, пехл. awar, wal, ul, перс. bar “на; над” и към източноиранските езици от друга, където продължава в осет. wællag от *wælikkon “верхний, высший; наземный, земной; мощный, сильный; великан”, пам. war, wāriy, woru “на; вверх; верхний” .

Khan Kubrat in the Greek-Persian War and the Bulgarian Treasure of Malaya Pereshchepina
Near the present-day Poltava village of Malaya Pereschepina in Ukraine is buried our Bulgarian dear ancestor, the great Bulgarian and the Roman patrician Khan Kurt-Kubrat († 665); the founder and long-time ruler of the Caucasian Proto-Bulgarian Empire, Old Great Bulgaria, which is the second European Bulgarian state after the West Hun Empire of Atilla-Avitohol and the earlier one of New Great Bulgaria of Khan Asparuh; one of the most significant figures in Asia and Europe since the first half of the 7th century; a brave warrior crusader, a great commander, a skilful diplomat, the richest and most influential emperor of the entire then world, from the Chinese Empire to the east and the Roman Empire to the west; the Bulgarian ruler who dared to oppose the strongmen of the West Turkic and Avar Kaganates of the day; he defeated the mighty Sasanian-Persian Empire, prevented the death of the great Byzantine Empire and saved the Holy Cross of the Lord from Persian captivity.
Found on May 12, 1912, in the tomb of Khan Kubrat, the exquisite gold and silver vessels, the gold-plated sword with a wide leather belt, the only token of which is almost 0.5 kg of solid gold, the gold rings with its monogram and all other gold and silver objects, jewelry, ornaments and coins weighing 25 kg for gold and 50 kg for silver, more than 800 in number and in all, are the largest, richest and most unique in the world silver and gold treasure, widely known also as the famous treasure from Malaya Pereshchepina and they are shedev of the Proto-Bulgarian, Persian and Byzantine goldsmith's art.
The silver-gold objects and articles from the funeral in Malaya Pereshchepina, Khan Kubrat has them and owns it as his own heritage from the previous Bulgarian khans; as a battle trophy acquired personally by him with a weapon in his hand during battles with the Persians; as gifts mainly from the Byzantine emperors and as invaluable works of art at the jewelry studio in his court. Each of the four groups of artifacts possesses and is characterized by its own specific artistic stylistic features and characteristics.

PROTO-BULGARIAN TEXTS AND INSCRIPTIONS IN EURASIA IN LATE ANTIQUITY AND THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES Proto-Bulgarian complete texts and inscriptions have been published scattered and separately in Bulgarian and foreign publications, as well as on our personal website and on the scientific platform Academia.edu. This makes it very difficult to find and get acquainted with them, which in general makes it extremely necessary and even more than appropriate to collect them in a single publication, where they are presented in a relatively more generalized and popular form. As a result of personal reading, translation, and comparative-etymological lexical-grammatical analysis and description, some of the more voluminous Bulgarian texts and inscriptions in Eurasia in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages are the following: Süčig tälígar Puguγ tоγudúγar If the commander-in-chief goes to war, The Pugu tribe will be defeated; Hunog šad iqüi ašuk hum The cup from which to feed the prince of the Hunog; Küŋeg Dengiz jikü käse! Kižü, šox-šox saxyngil, gür Täŋrig! The dish, from which khan Dengiz has to eat! Man, be very afraid of Him, mighty is Tangra! hоn bähi dоqi Burial by cremation of the prince of the Honites; ispor boto yiugi kyasä The dish from which to feed Prince Asparuh; Кърчи билиг aŋäǯäk Kurchi's grave, let's remember it! Ǯuɣutur koǯa belüg tikettüki ǯal eǯki ojum The tombstone of Elder Dzhugutur, the year he was placed, is Capricorn, month ten; Ёгюнбех белюг д'огъ эни эш ойушттукъ. Ижден ал ол Tombstone of the funeral by cremation of Prince Yogyun, we have found you a new companion, stand before God; tuγlasini ǯapdi Biǯigir The bricks are made by Bidžigir; Эгинч бенгд'ур элинче угъу юм ёгиген Bahadur Eginch paid homage and praise to his country; Aŋišä Čal kaghan urtegi imeq Kan Täŋirem köčregi atla The coin which in the almighty name of my Tengri-Khan cut off the wise kagan Chal; Čəig Kagana egidlügüne kelün Worship the courage of kagan Cheig; Buila župan tеšеji dugetоjgi Butaul žoăpan tagrogi ičigi täjši The cup for which the prefect Boila ordered, as a lining, to write and from which to drink cheers the prefect Botaul.

Here is a very rough draft (help would be appreciated) of our first stab at cleaning the Omurtagian stables of the historically crucial but hitherto much-abused Turkic language of the Bulgars who under Asparukh invaded the Roman Empire and founded Bulgaria.  We deal as always with methodology and with just two words one of which has been, we argue, completely misnalyzed (minik 'the ruler's chief groom), the other apparently not analyzed at all, some high title (unspecified) knin.  We hope to pursue this same methodology to analyze the rest of the language (only a few bits of which have been analyzed correctly) as well as especially the calendar (about half of which has been analyzed correctly and other half not), but even the first half only if we put together bits and pieces of different proposals by different scholars (Mikkola, Rasanen, Pritsak, Bazin, Mudrak, Markwart, Bachvarov) and one generally ignorable (and serves him right!) out-of-work hairdresser and bankrupt tall-ladder designer and salesman in a way that no one has put together before.

Near the present-day Poltava village of Malaya Pereschepina in Ukraine is buried our Bulgarian dear ancestor, the great Bulgarian and the Roman patrician Khan Kurt-Kubrat († 665); the founder and long-time ruler of the Caucasian Proto-Bulgarian Empire, Old Great Bulgaria, which is the second European Bulgarian state after the West Hun Empire of Atilla the Bulgarian, and the earlier one of New Great Bulgaria of Khan Asparuh; one of the most significant figures in Asia and Europe since the first half of the 7th century; a brave warrior crusader, a great commander, a skilful diplomat, the richest and most influential emperor of the entire then world, from the Chinese Empire to the east and the Roman Empire to the west; the Bulgarian ruler who dared to oppose the strongmen of the West Turkic and Avar Kaganates of the day; he defeated the mighty Sasanian-Persian Empire, prevented the death of the great Byzantine Empire and saved the Holy Cross of the Lord from Persian captivity.
All the silver and gold objects and articles from the tomb of Khan Kubrat he has them and owns as his own heritage from the previous Bulgarian khans; as a fighting trophy acquired personally by him with a weapon in his hand during battles with the Persians; as gifts mainly from the Byzantine emperors and as invaluable works of art at the jewelry studio in his court.

The Roman Patrician Khan Kubrat
Near the present-day Poltava village of Malaya Pereschepina in Ukraine is buried our Bulgarian dear ancestor, the great Bulgarian and the Roman patrician Khan Kurt-Kubrat († 665); the founder and long-time ruler of the Caucasian Proto-Bulgarian Empire, Old Great Bulgaria, which is the second European Bulgarian state after the West Hun Empire of Atilla-Avitohol and the earlier one of New Great Bulgaria of Khan Asparuh; one of the most significant figures in Asia and Europe since the first half of the 7th century; a brave warrior crusader, a great commander, a skilful diplomat, the richest and most influential emperor of the entire then world, from the Chinese Empire to the east and the Roman Empire to the west; the Bulgarian ruler who dared to oppose the strongmen of the West Turkic and Avar Kaganates of the day; he defeated the mighty Sasanian-Persian Empire, prevented the death of the great Byzantine Empire and saved the Holy Cross of the Lord from Persian captivity.
Found on May 12, 1912, in the tomb of Khan Kubrat, the exquisite gold and silver vessels, the gold-plated sword with a wide leather belt, the only token of which is almost 0.5 kg of solid gold, the gold rings with its monogram and all other gold and silver objects, jewelry, ornaments and coins weighing 25 kg for gold and 50 kg for silver, more than 800 in number and in all, are the largest, richest and most unique in the world silver and gold treasure, widely known also as the famous treasure from Malaya Pereshchepina and they are shedev of the Proto-Bulgarian, Persian and Byzantine goldsmith's art.
The silver-gold objects and articles from the funeral in Malaya Pereshchepina, Khan Kubrat has them and owns it as his own heritage from the previous Bulgarian khans; as a battle trophy acquired personally by him with a weapon in his hand during battles with the Persians; as gifts mainly from the Byzantine emperors and as invaluable works of art at the jewelry studio in his court. Each of the four groups of artifacts possesses and is characterized by its own specific artistic stylistic features and characteristics.

Again with all due apologies for the preliminary nature of the work, we would like to suggest that this word does not mean what it has been claimed to mean, while also noting that even the best scholars who have touched on it (Beshevliev and Golden) were unable to explain the "enigmatic" -t- or explain (this was not even asked) why in a Greek translation of Krum's orders just this word was left in Bulgar, or above all where was Krum himself--since the usual interpretation implies he was not commanding his armies in person, though we know he was.  We suggest that the word mean 'one of two paired invading armies', a compound that there would have been no equivalent to in Greek, and offer an analysis that puts Krum where he needs to be and explains the -t- too.  Is that so very wrong of us?

A paper by Evgenia Komatarova-Balinova was published in 2018 in the proceedings of a symposium in memoriam Irina Shtereva (1942 – 2015). The paper questions in the first place the accuracy of the methods and the arguments used. According to the author, during the 1950’s the concept of the Caucasian origin of the Proto-Bulgars was imposed in the Bulgarian historiography “through the sanction of the Soviet national policy” and reached “the same mythological dimensions as the legendary tale of the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece”. The recently published monograph “The Protobulgar necropolis at Balchik” by L. Doncheva-Petkova, K. Apostolov and V. Russeva is represented as an example of this concept. The paper aims at debunking the “Caucasian myth” through a critical analysis of the arguments set in the book and is essentially a review of the monograph. However the claimed statements and evaluations require an independent critical analysis, which is the purpose of the present work.

THE PRESLAV INSCRIPTION
The foundations of the Preslav Fortress were laid and it was built by Khan Omurtag. During the design and construction of the fortress, a special building with suitable premises with wooden racks for storage and conservation of protective equipment or of the disbanded and dismissed people's militia, or of Bulgarians who died in one of the battles with the Romans, or on the other hand, protective equipment collected from one of the nearby battlefields, but most likely equipment originating from all three of these situations. Khan Omurtag personally assigned the task of collecting and storing this protective equipment to his Ichergu-Boila Jivko of Slavic origin, and to his supreme commander, in his absence, the commander-in-chief of his army, the proto-Bulgarian Turtun, who worked on the case with the prefect, i.e. the regional governor of Pliska. These officials must not only organize and manage the collection and retrieval of protective equipment, but also control and be responsible for it subsequently. For this purpose, a one-storey building was built of "narrow elongated and undivided corridors", in front of the entrance of which stands a special marble column, on which in capital Greek letters in Proto-Bulgarian is carved the relevant military inventory, which not only indicates the names or positions of the responsible persons, but also the type and quantity of the protective equipment itself.

I offer a possible (I dont feel sure about this but it looks good) etymology of this name as being simple Turkic (of the correct branch, viz. Chuvashic alias Bulgaric, Lir, Shshlir, Uncommon, etc.) for 'little city'.  I also repeat what I keep saying in various places about Khazar as a member of the same branch--and about the etymologies of the 'city' word as well as 'fish' and above all 'Balkan'.  Obviously, it just proves that I have no idea about how Turcology should be done and should leave it to the generals and indeed field marshals and khagans.  Was Clemenceau really wrong then?

We report the presence of significant Central Asian ancestry in both contemporary Bulgarians and in early medieval population from SMC (Saltovo Mayaky Culture). The existence of Chalcolithic-Iran (Hajj-Fruz) and Wusun related ancestral component in contemporary Bulgarians comes as a surprise and sheds light on both migration route and ethnic origins of Proto-Bulgarians. We interpret these results as an evidence for a Central –Asian connection for the tribes, constituting the population of SMC and Kubrat’s Old Great Bulgaria in Pontic steppe from 6th-7th century AD. We identify Central Asian Wusun tribes as carriers of this component on the base from the results from f3 and f4 statistics. We suggest that Wusun-related tribes must have played role (or might have even been the backbone) in what became known as the Hunnic migration to Europe during 3rd-5th century AD. Same population must have taken part in the formation of the SMC (Saltovo-Mayaki Culture) and Great Old Bulgarian during...

Found on May 12, 1912, in the tomb of Khan Kubrat, the exquisite gold, and silver vessels, the gold-plated sword with a wide leather belt, the only token of which is almost 0.5 kg of solid gold, the gold rings with its monogram and all other gold and silver objects, jewelry, ornaments and coins weighing 25 kg for gold and 50 kg for silver, more than 800 in number and in all, are the largest, richest and most unique in the world silver and gold treasure, widely known also as the famous treasure from Malaya Pereshchepina and they are shedev of the Proto-Bulgarian, Persian and Byzantine goldsmith's art.
The silver and gold objects and articles from the funeral in Malaya Pereshchepina, Khan Kubrat has them and owns it as his own heritage from the previous Bulgarian khans; as a battle trophy acquired personally by him with a weapon in his hand during battles with the Persians; as gifts mainly from the Byzantine emperors and as invaluable works of art at the jewelry studio in his court. Each of the four groups of artifacts possesses and is characterized by its own specific artistic stylistic features and characteristics.
The first stage of the development of Bulgarian goldsmith's applied art in Europe begins from the end of the 4th century and continues until the end of the 6th century. It is characterized by the workmanship of gold products of extremely high artistic value.
The second stage of the development of Bulgarian goldsmith's applied art in Europe began in the first quarter of the 7th century with the manufacture of gold products in the atelier at the court of Khan Kubrat.
Together with the gold artifacts produced in the atelier in the court of Khan Kubrat and at the atelier in the court of Khan Asparuh, as well as those from the funerals in Voznesenka, Glodossi, Kellegay, etc. all the way to Kunbaboni and Nagyszéksós in the territory of present-day Hungary, they are all Proto-Bulgarian and form a homogeneous and unified Bulgarian Cultural Circle, because they are from the funerals of Bulgarians participating in the Greco-Persian wars or their heirs.

We argue that quite possibly the word is from the language of Asparukh's Bulgars (the very one so often called by the misleading term Proto-Bulgarian), tho there are some uncertainties.  Our real purpose as always is to call attention first to the highly preliminary and often blatantly wrong state of much of what is regarded as settled "science" by those paid to regard such things and those who listen to that.  Second to show how science CAN be done (whether it should the readers will decide for themselves) in place of the way it IS so often done (not always but often).  So no it is not about this word, no it is not about Bulgarian, no it is not about the language of Asparukh.  It is about methods that literally kill or disable millions of people when f.ex. applied in a closely related field like medicine vs. methods that can and do reduce pain and suffering and delay unwelcome death.  But who cares about THAT?  The important thing is to decide whether the name of the snowdrop in Buigarian is Slavic or Turkic.  Oh we forgot there are those who care even more about showing that Asparukh's language wasn't Turkic.  Why is that so very important, could someone tell me?  And yes of course I do know that in Chuvash the initial k- in the snow word is lost.  So this is yet another piece of evidence that several of the peculiarities of Chuvash as we have it are recent (see my analysis of Tuthon', where the word of salt seems to be appear not in the Chuvash form we might have expected).

In essence and function, the heraldic sign tamgha of the Proto-Bulgarian ruler clan Dulo is a sign of ownership with one primary-basic function - the possession, and two secondary-derived and additional functions - the representative (representative) and the protective (apotropheic). Khan Asparuh ordered the tamgha of the Dulo clan to be carved on a suitable stone to be built over the main gate of the Belgorod Fortress as a sign that there is a descendant of the Dulo clan, who is also a ruler, a khan of the entrusting Proto-Bulgarian tribes. He directed the repair of the Drustress fortress and ordered the tamgha of Dulo clan to be carved on the fortress walls. The wall in front of the village of Byala, Varna district is the last and the most southern wall that Khan Asparuh builds. On it the tamgha of the Dulo clan is carved between two Runic letters, so the whole inscription translates as The State of Dulo. The urns with the ashes of the khans and their wives from the First Bulgarian Kingdom are stored in a special pit into the most hidden underground tunnel connected to the palace of Khan Krum. The title канартигин is formed on the basis of the Proto-Bulgarian expression *каган-ирт-тикин, literally „prince-after-kagan“, i.e. „crown prince“.