Bulgarism is an ideology aimed at the "revival of

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as noma ...

' national identity" and

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state ...

statehood. It originated in the second half of 19th century within the

Wäisi movement The Wäisi movement was a religious, social and political movement in Tatarstan and other Tatar-populated parts of Russia which took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It also incorporated elements of class struggle and nationalism. ...

and the

Society for the study of the native land (Chuvashia) Society for the study of the native land (; {{Lang-ru, Общество изучения местного края, ОИМК, Obshchestvo izucheniya mestnogo kraya, OYMK) is an association of ethnographers of Chuvashia to study the local region. ...

It was revived at the end of the 20th century as "neobulgarism" in

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

and

Chuvashia Chuvashia (russian: Чувашия; cv, Чӑваш Ен), officially the Chuvash Republic — Chuvasia,; cv, Чӑваш Республики — Чӑваш Ен is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is the homeland of the Chuv ...

. The ideology is based on the theory that

Volga Tatars The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars ( tt-Cyrl, татарлар, tatarlar) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are Russia's second-largest ethnicity after ...

and Chuvashs descend from Volga Bulgars. The theory was supported by the Soviet authorities in mid-20th century as an alternative to the "reactionary" theory claiming the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmen ...

descent.Azade-Ayse Rorlich, "The Volga Tatars: A Profile in National Resilience", 1986, , Chapter 1: "The Origins of Volga Tatars", p. 6 Victor Schnirelmann, "Who gets the past?: competition for ancestors among non-Russian intellectuals in Russia", Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1996, , , Chapter 4: "The Rivalry for the Bulgar Legacy" At the turn of 20th and 21st centuries, the ideas of bulgarism had been revived through the activities of neobulgarists.

References

{{reflist Bulgars Chuvash people Tatar topics National revivals

See also

References