Sevar () was a ruler of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in the 8th century.

Life

The

Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans The ''Nominalia of the Bulgarian Khans'' () is a short text which is presumed to contain the names of some early Bulgar rulers, their clans, the year of their ascending to the throne according to the cyclic Bulgar calendar and the length of the ...

states that Sevar belonged to the

Dulo clan The Dulo clan was a ruling dynasty of the Bulgars, who were of Turkic origin. It is generally considered that their elite was related to the Huns and the Western Turkic Khaganate. Particularly, it is said that the Dulo descended from the ruler ...

and ruled for 15 years. According to the chronology developed by Moskov, Sevar would have reigned in 721–737. Other chronologies place his reign in 738–754. According to historians such as

Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman (7 July 1903 – 1 November 2000), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume '' A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). His works had a profound impact on the popula ...

and

David Marshall Lang David Marshall Lang (6 May 1924 – 20 March 1991), was a Professor of Caucasian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was one of the most productive British scholars who specialized in Georgian, Armenian and ...

, Sevar was the last ruler of the Dulo dynasty and with Sevar died out the lineage of

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

the Hun. It has been suggested that Sevar‘s name is derived from

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 ...

''Ziwar'' (adornment). Although initially a female name, it could also serve as a component of male names, as suggested by Chuvash pre-Christian name ''Aksĕver''. Another etymology of Aksever would be from the Turkic word Ak (white), and Sever (to like) which has its roots in the Oghur Volga Bulgar word Sev or Sav in Chuvash, thereby the name Sevar could also be of Turkic etymology.

Legacy

Sevar Point on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetland Islands, South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands north of the ...

is named after Sevar of Bulgaria.

Literature

* Mosko Moskov, ''Imennik na bălgarskite hanove (novo tălkuvane)'', Sofia 1988. * Jordan Andreev, Ivan Lazarov, Plamen Pavlov, ''Koj koj e v srednovekovna Bălgarija'', Sofia 1999. * (primary source), Bahši Iman, ''Džagfar Tarihy'', vol. III, Orenburg 1997.

References

{{Bulgarian monarchs 753 deaths Monarchs of the Bulgars 8th-century Bulgarian monarchs Year of birth unknown Dulo clan