Bolghar (;

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

: Болгар, بلغار, ''Bolğar''; Chuvash: Аслă Пăлхар, ''Aslă Pălhar'') was intermittently the capital of

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria (sometimes referred to as the Volga Bulgar Emirate) was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now Europea ...

from the 10th to the 13th centuries, along with Bilyar and Nur-Suvar. It was situated on the bank of the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

, about 30 km downstream from its confluence with the

Kama River The Kama ( , ; ; ), also known as the Chulman ( ; ), is a long«Река КАМА»
Russian St ...

and some 130 km from modern

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

in what is now Spassky District. West of it lies a small modern town, since 1991 known as Bolgar. The

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Committee inscribed Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex (ancient Bolghar

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

) to the

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 2014.

History

The city is supposed to have been the capital of

from as early as the 10th century. Regular

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

incursions along the Volga, and internecine fights, forced the Volga Bulgar kings (khagans) to intermittently move their capital to Bilyar. During the Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria in the 13th century, the

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

conquered the realm. After a destruction of Bilyar during the Mongol invasion, the older capital became a centre of a separate province (or duchy) within the

. It lay outside the ''ulus'' itself, but had direct Mongol presence. The Mongols eliminated the existing socio-political structure of the Volga Bolgars. During the period of Mongol domination Bolgar acquired immense wealth and many imposing buildings and grew tenfold in size. The taxation of regions such as Bolgar, Khwarizm, Crimea and Azerbaijan filled the Golden Horde's coffers with great wealth, and the Mongols replaced the sitting rulers of Bolgar and Khwarizm with their own, while the Rus' principalities in the west brought them comparatively little revenue, and they left the local princes in Rus', Armenia and Georgia in charge. The late 14th century saw a marked decline in its fortunes. It was sacked by in 1361 during the

Great Troubles The Great Troubles (, as found in Rus' chronicles), also known as the Golden Horde Dynastic War, was a war of succession in the Golden Horde from 1359 to 1381. This era, which followed shortly after the Black Death had ravaged the cities of the ...

. The

Muscovite–Volga Bulgars war (1376) The Grand Duchy of Moscow-Volga Bulgars War of 1376 was organized by princes Dmitry Donskoy of Muscovy, and Dmitry Konstantinovich of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal. The combined Muscovite–Suzdalian army was led by Moscow Governor Dmitry Mikhailov ...

saw

Muscovy Muscovy or Moscovia () is an alternative name for the Principality of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 *Muscovy duck (''Cairina mosch ...

and Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal briefly capture Grand Bolgar and installing their own ''doroga'' and ''tamozhnia'' (customs collector), which probably were existing offices at the time, before the Tatars retook the city. It was endangered by

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

during the

Tokhtamysh–Timur war The Tokhtamysh–Timur war was fought from 1386 to 1395 between Tokhtamysh, the khan of the Golden Horde, and the warlord and conqueror Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire, in the areas of the Caucasus Mountains, Turkestan and Eastern Europe. ...

. As a Muslim religious center Bolgar persevered until the mid-16th century when the

Khanate of Kazan The Khanate of Kazan was a Tatar state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; ...

was conquered by the Russian Tsar

Ivan IV Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. ...

and incorporated into the Russian state. During Tsarist rule the site of the ancient town was settled by Russian commoners. Tsar

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

issued a special

ukase In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz ( ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leadership (e.g., Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' or the Most Holy Synod) that had the force of law. " Edict" and " decree" are adequate trans ...

to preserve the surviving ruins, which was the first Russian law aimed at preserving historical heritage.

Little pilgrimage

During the Soviet period, Bolgar was a center of a local Islamic movement known as ''The Little

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

''; Muslims from Tatarstan and other parts of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

could not participate in the hajj to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, so they travelled instead to Bolgar.

Monuments and temples

File:Eastern mausoleum, Bolgar.JPG, Eastern mausoleum File:Khans' mausoleum, Bolgar.JPG, Khans' mausoleum File:Northern mausoleum, Bolgar.JPG, Northern mausoleum File:Black chamber, Bolgar.JPG, Black Chamber File:Белая палата.JPG, White Chamber File:Булгарское городище 6.JPG, Big manara File:Keçe manara.JPG, Small manara File:Bolgar mosque.jpeg, New Bolghar White Mosque

Importance

The Tatars refer to the medieval capital of Volga Bolgaria as ''Shahri Bolghar'' (), that is

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

for "the City of Bolghar". The town is part of their cultural heritage, because Volga Bulgaria is the predecessor state of the

, which in turn is in a way the predecessor of today's Russian republic of

Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

. Today, the capital of Tatarstan is

, but many Tatars consider Bolghar to be their ancient and religious capital and to allow a glimpse of Muslim Bulgar life before the Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria.

References

*Edward Tracy Turnerelli, Kazan, the Ancient Capital of the Tartar Khans, 1854, pp 196–261 * (e-book).

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places on the Volga Defunct towns in Russia Islam in Russia Archaeological sites in Tatarstan Volga Bulgaria Former populated places in Russia World Heritage Sites in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Tatarstan Populated places in the Golden Horde bg:Болгар (град)