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RUSSIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE
THROUGH THE CENTURIES

 
 

Bulgarians

 
 

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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