------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 13:39:33 +0100 (British Summer Time) To: Shadow-Eyes From: Vassil Karloukovski Subject: Volga Bulgars > You see I am working on an alternate history novel involving the >Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos (1118-1143 A.D.) My premise is that >he doesn't die in Cillicia in 1143 but lives another 20 years or so and >reconquers most of Asia minor from the Oghuzz Turks. > I have several subplots in which John marches north of the Black seas >in the 1160,s (he's an old man at his time) to support some important >allies of his among the Polovtsy or Kipchak Turks, whom the Byzantines >called Cumans. > These allies include a Kipchak Khan, a personal friend of John's, who >has converted to Christianity. John is hopeful that this Khan will >convert the rest of his tribe to Christianity but the other Kipchak >Ordos don't like this and attack him. > I haven't completely written the character up yet but I have a lot of >ideas pertaining to him. > I picture this as an episode similar to Basil II working to convert the >Kievan Rus to orthodoxy, only instead of it being the Kievan Russ- Slavs >its the Kipchak Turks. > John aids this Kipchak khan in defeating a coalition of the paganistic >Kipchaks, who attack his ordos, fearful of his growing relationship with >Byzantium. > This leads to the beginning of most of the Kipchak Khanate converting >to Christianity which in makes their northern black sea area a Byzantine >vassal state. > Thus when the Mongol invade 60 to 80 years later they encounter a >nation of mostly Christian Kipchak Turks who have been given their own >alphabet by the Komnenian Emperors. > This is why I need to know as much as I can about the Moslem Volga >Bulgars in the years from 1130 or so to 1167, the year of Johns death. The only event from that period I am aware of is the victory of Andrej Bogoljubski over the Volga Bulgars on 1.08.1164. One the same day there was another victory of the Byzantine emperor Manuel over the infidels, so the Russians regarded the double victory as an omen and built a church in the town of Vladimir on this occasion. Generally, after the demise of Khazaria, the Russians became the principal enemies, as well as partners of the Volga Bulgars. Here are some events of interest: - Svjatoslav, having defeated the Khazars in 965, overruns Bolgar (the capital) in 969. - A trade agreement is signed in 1006. Bulgar merchants are free to trade in Russia. - 1088 AD - Bulgars take the Russian town of Murom and hang some brigands who were robbing their merchants. - 1107 - Bulgars attack the town of Suzdal but are repelled. - 1120 - prince Jurij Dolorukij defeats the Bulgars, after they poisoned his father-in-law, the Kipchak prince Aepak. - 1172 - Bulgars repel an attack of Mstislav, the son of Andrej Bogoljubskij. - 1184 - an army of prince Vsevolod devastates some Bulgar areas. - 1205 - another Russian campaign. - 1209 - Bulgars invade but are repelled at Rjazan. - 1220 - combined Russo-Kipchak forces take and destroy the town of Oshel. > I would also like to know a bit about them in the immediate pre Mongol >period as well. Well, there are three unsuccessful Mongol campaigns against the Bulgars. The first encounter was in 1233 - the Mongols of Dzhebe and Sabade, after their spring victory over a Russo-Kipchak army on the Kalka river, were in their turn defeated by the Bulgars at Samarskie Luki in the autumn. In 1229 Bulgars repelled another army of Batij, and in 1232 the Mongols couldn't reach Bolgar before the winter. > In writing my novel I also want to develop an embryonic story line in >which the Mongols in an alternate 13th century invade the west just as >they did in our time and they encounter a newly reconstituted Byzantine >Empire that defies them. When Batu attacks the "Christian Kipchaks in >1223 they appeal to their overlord the Emperor in Cnople the "Lord of >the steppes" (a title the greatful Khan gives John II after they are >victorious over the pagan Kipchaks.) Ok, but I don't see the Byzantines bothering to fight some elusive nomads in the steppes north of the Black sea. They would rather try to instigate somebody else to do the job, their usual practice, wouldn't they? > By the time of the Mongol onslaught all of the Kipchaks west of the Don >are Christians and a lot of them east of it are starting to embrace the >faith. > > I'm trying to work out a scenario where by Ghenghis khan himself >invests Cnople with 150,000 Mongols. By this time the Byzantine Empire >is as strong as it was under Basil II, John I and Nicephoros II, ie the >Macedonian Emperors. > It would be a great adventure and make a fine story if I can make it plausible. > So basically I need to know as much as possible about the Volga Bulgars >in the years 1140 to 1167 and 1200 to 1237. > I realize the sources may not be that good but anything you can tell me >or send me by e-mail would be nice. Yes, I will tell you what I know. I would also recommend the Xth century account of Ibn Fadlan - Eaters of the Dead (The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in A.D. 922), Michael Crichton, Ballantine Books, New York, May 1993. The Bulgars were asking for help against the Judaic Khazars, and Ibn Fadlan took part as a theologian in the Arab embassy to them. Ibn Fadlan's book might be of interest for you also because it contains descriptions of other peoples - Khorezmians, Oghuzes, etc. Ibn Fadlan's mission had to evade the hostile Khazars and it travelled through Central Asia instead - Hamadan, Nishapur, Merv, Bukhara. A. Koestler's 'The thirteenth tribe' also contains excerpts from the Ibn Fadlan's book. Some summary information about >their King(s) (Khan?) in the 1150s and 60's would be nice. I don't know, but here are the names of some of their khans, starting from the beginning of the X c.: Almush (he later accepted the Muslim name of Dzhaffar), Ahmed, Hasan, Nasyr, Mumin, Hajdyr, Mohamed, Ibrahim, Sygyd, Burazh, Murad. Some clues >to his personality. ??? Would he join the pagan Kipchaks against the Khan >and John II out of fear of the north sea coast becoming Christian? Volga Bulgars were Muslims, so I guess they would be quite hostile towards any Christian folk :-)) > Would he make a concerted ally of the Yaroq Turks in Asia Minor as they >fight against the Byzantine re conquest? I think they wouldn't care too much what's happening in Asia Minor, it was too far for them. Russia and Central Asia were more important. In fact, Islam came to Volga from Central Asia, before the Ibn Fadlan's embassy of 922. Here is an excerpt of a recent Tatarian book (G. Davletshin, Volga Bulgaria: spiritual culture, Kazan, 1990) about that: 'Nothing supports the proposition that Islam was officially adopted in Volga Bulgaria in 922 AD, that is after the arrival of the embassy from Baghdad. Neither Ibn Fadlan's account nor any other source speak about that. At that time the khan, his associates and a significant part of the population were already Muslims, and the khan referred to Islam for justification of his actions. ... The XVI c. Bosnian Ali Dede in his 'Rissalat al-intissab' says that the Islam was accepted in the time of the Abbasid caliphs al-Mamun (813-833) and al-Vassike-billahi (842-847). It is supported by numismatic data. A local Bulgar coin from 902-909 AD bears the names of the caliph al-Muktafi (902-908), the Samanid emir Ismail ibn Ahmed (892-907) and the local ruler Dzhafar ibn-Abdallah, i.e. the Bulgar khan Almush.' And another detail which could be of interest: '...the Bulgars followed the Sunni, Hanifi (sp?) version of Islam, and Central Asian scholars were consulted on theologian questions. It confirms Islam came from Central Asia. One debate was caused by the shortness of the nights in the summer and of the days in winter, which disturbed the correct performance of the five prays, especially the fifth pray (that after the sunset). In the Muslim world the sunset is defined when it is completely dark and when one cannot distinguish a white from a black thread. As the afterglow never disappeared in these (Bulgar) areas in the summer, they never performed the fifth pray. ... This stirred hot debates in the literature and in theologian circles. The Bulgar missions to Central Asia aimed at solving exactly that kind of problems.' > What was his state like? Initially, at the time of the Khazars, it was a loose confederation of newcomers and natives, Turkic and Finno-Ugric tribes - Bulgars, Sabirs, Essengels, Bersuls, etc. Bolgar had first to break the rivalry of the other towns/trading centres, especially Suvar - the town of the Sabirs, and to subdue the neighbouring tribes. Suvar even minted its own coins, before being taken by Almush (the khan at the time of Ibn Fadlan). By the XI c. an archaeologically uniform culture was already achieved together with the outlining of the country's territory. >How big of an army could they field The army which opposed the Mongols in 1229 was 30,000 strong. The most they could muster in 1236 against the Mongols was 50,000. The Arab traveller Al Muhtali wrote in 982: 'Bolgar is a town, situated on the river Etil (Volga). Its inhabitants are Muslims. Bolgar can muster 20,000 horsemen.' and what >would it be composed of? horse archers in the tradition of the steppe? Most probably, their feigned retreat against the Mongols at Samarskie Luki was successful. > What was their government like? Were they close to Byzantium in this >period. Their society wasn't feudal, at least not at the time of Ibn Fadlan - the khan had no share in the agricultural production which belonged entirely to the peasants. The sources of revenue for the khan were one tenth of the imported and exported goods, one horse from every wedding, an annual tax of one fur from every household, military spoils, etc. What is more important is that besides the trade, the leather and arms manufacture, Volga Bulgaria had a significant agricultural production, which was even exported. They first introduced the heavy plough in these lands. The X c. traveller Ibn Ruste says: 'The Bulgars are agricultural people, they produce every kind of grains: wheat, barley, millet and others.' Altogether, seeds of nearly 20 crops are archaeologicalLY attested in the town of Biljar. Bulgar wheat alleviated a great famine in Russia (Suzdal) in 1024, in 1299 during another famine in Russia they again sent wheat to prince Jurij. > I need some information about these things so I can develop my plot. Here are some minor details which could be of use: - The Russians were impressed after one (successful for them) war against the Bulgars that the latter wore leather boots. - According to Al Balhi the population of Bolgar lived in wooden houses during the winter and in the summer they moved to jurts. Archaeological investigations in Biljar (the largest Volga Bulgar town, far bigger than Bolgar) show that at the beginning of the 12th c. it had less that 100 brick and stone houses, while the rest (about 3000) were wooden. The town was rectangular, its inner part (~1,000,000 m2) was surrounded by triple earthworks. Some details from Ibn Fadlan: - The khan used to eat on a separate table. Each of his relatives and associates presented had a separate table and received the food from the khan. One could start eating only after the khan had started. Similar was the practice in Danube Bulgaria - after the conversion to Christianity (865 AD) khan Boris sent a letter of 100 questions to the pope, some of them very naive (e.g. could the Bulgarians, as Christians, wear pants) and other very serious (could they have an independent church). One of the questions was whether the khan could eat on a separate table. - Ibn Fadlan was amazed by the view of men and women, bathing together in the rivers. However, the adultery carried the death penalty. - The children belonged to the father-in-law and not to the father; when somebody dies, his brother was to inherit his property. - How the Turcs and the Bulgars meet their guest: 'When we left the land of these Turcs (the Oghuses), we met their military commander Atrak, the son of Katagh-khan. He pitched turkic tents for us and we stayed with him. ... He brought sheep, and horses, so that some sheep were slain in our honour and we rode the horses. He invited all his relatives, the sons of his uncle and slew many sheep in our honour.' 'When we were at 2 days distance from the king of the Sakalibs (Bulgars), he sent his vassals together with their children and brothers to greet us. We were met with bread, meat and barley and they joined us. When we were at 2 farsahs (11.5 km) distance, he met us personally. When he saw us, he dismounted his horse and thanked the Allah the all-powerful and great. Apparently, he had dirchems (coins) in his sleeves, which he showered upon us. He pitched jurts for us.' - You may have a look at http://www.bulgaria.com/aba/izdanie/980101/9.html the page is in Bulgarian, but it contains a picture of the mausoleum built at a place near Volga where the Bulgar khan Chelbir defeated an army of Chenghis-khan. - And there is a picture of Bulgar soldier at http://www.bizlink.ru/data/duel/98/2/29.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, speaking about Cumans, they were involved in the Bulgarian affairs as well. In fact, it is thought that the last two Bulgarians dynasties before the coming of the Turks - the Terters and the Shishmans, were Cumanic in origin (and to them is attributed the general disorder, the fragmenting of the state and decline of the central authority). Cumans were allies of the Bulgarian car Kalojan Assen during the battle against the Latins at Adrianople in 1205. Later, Kalojan was killed by his wife, a Cuman princess during the siege of Saloniki. Cumans were also the last Bulgarian governors of Belgrade and Branichevo regions, before their taking by the Serbs in mid-13 c., etc. Just some recollections from memory. Regards, Vassil Karloukovski.