Bulchan (Bulčan) or Bluchan (Blučan) was, according to
Georgian chronicles, a
Khazar
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
general around the year 800 CE. According to the Georgian sources, Bulchan led the Khazar army in its capture of
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...
. As part of the surrender terms a Georgian princess named Shushan was supposed to accompany Bulchan back to the
khagan's court and marry the Khazar ruler, but the girl killed herself instead. When he returned home with the news, the hapless Bulchan was killed by the khagan in a fit of rage.
The connection between Bulchan and
Bulan, if any, is unknown;
Peter B. Golden has commented on the common etymological roots of the two names.
[Golden ____.]
Notes
Sources
*Golden, Peter. ''Khazar Studies: An Historio-Philological Inquiry into the Origins of the Khazars.'' Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1980.
Khazar generals
9th-century people from Georgia (country)
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown
{{Georgia-hist-stub