THE LIST OF NAMES OF THE BULGARIAN KHANS

It is assumed that this document, unique for early European feudalism, was compiled in the time of the founder of the Bulgarian state Khan Asparoukh (681 - about 700). Later continued, up to about 767, it represents the genealogy of the Bulgarian rulers, beginning, with no particularly good reason, from the Huns' leader Attila (Avitohol). The too long time of his rule, and that of his heir Ernich, was obviously of a legendary character.

This monument  had been compiled in the Greek language, inserting the Proto-Bulgarian (Turkic) names of the years of the rulers' ascension to the throne. It is believed that the Proto-Bulgarian system of chronology was based on cycles of 12 lunar years, each of them bearing the name of some animal, for example, "shegor" ("ox"), "dilom" ("snake"), etc. The "List of Names of the Bulgarian Khans" has reached us in Old Church-Slavonic translations made in the 16th century, in which the Proto-Bulgarian terms were preserved.

The first genealogy of the Bulgarian rulers demonstrates an amazing feeling for the dynastic and statehood continuity of the old Proto-Bulgarian state by the Volga river ("beyond the Danube") and the new Proto-Bulgarian-Slavic principality ("on this side of the Danube"). This is how it read:
 


 More...



Why it is "Wonderland" | The Bulgarians' Land | The People of Bulgaria | History | Ethnography and Folklore |
Bulgarian Cuisine | Perspective of the day

Visit our sponsor

Hosted by uCoz