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The Bulgarians are often erroneously
presented as part of the Southern Slavs despite their Turkic origin. Risalat
al-intisab, quoted by Frahn ("Drei Munzen der Wolga Bulgaren",
Mem. De l'Ac. Imp. De St Petersbourg, VI ser. T. I, P. 186, 1830,
writes: "The land of Bulgar is the land of the Muslim Turks. They adopted
the faith under the Caliphate of al-Ma'mun and of al-Vathek, and again under
the Caliphate of Qaim bi'amri'llah 30,000 tents accepted Islam. "The
author McArthney states on page 15 of The Magyars in the Ninth
Century, "This would put the conversion of part of the nation at
about A.D. 840.
They profited from the difficulties that the Byzantine empire found itself
in at the end of the seventh century and under Khan Asparukh crossed the Danube
and settled in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula (680-681) where they
founded their state. But before that they mixed with some Slavic tribes and
shared the benefits of their language, as did most other Bulgarians who
remained in the Volga region, from where the Balkan Bulgarians started their
push towards the west. With Greeks as their new neighbors, the Balkan
Bulgarians soon were converted to Christianity, while their brethren from Volga
in the 10th century accepted Islam. In both cases the religion did not alter
the basic physical and mental characteristics of the Bulgarians, and in the
case of the Balkan Bulgarians it is more appropriate to speak of the
Bulgarization of the Slavs that came under their rule than of the assimilation
of the Bulgarians by the Slavs. It is of interest to note that when the Slavic
tribes came to the Balkans, the native population called then Rasi. The Serbs
were known under this name for quite some time and it was not without reason
that their first capital was named Raska, presently a small town in the eastern
Serbia which retains the same name.
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