Khan Kubrat: biography, photo

Khan Kubrat is the founder of Great Bulgaria,which in the 7th century was located on the territory of modern Ukraine, Russia and the North Caucasus. He came from the ancient line of Dulo. The name Khan Kubrat literally means "real wolf".

It is about this ruler that will be discussed later.

Biographical information

The exact dates of Khan Kubrat's life are unknown. He was born probably in 605, grew up and brought up in Constantinople, at the imperial court. He was a friend of the Byzantine emperor named Heraclius. As historians say, Kubrat was a Christian who was baptized as early as 12 years.

It is known that Uncle Kubrat was Organa. It is he who is credited with the initial adoption of Christianity. After his death, Kubrat became the ruler of the Bulgarians. Contemporaries characterized him as an energetic, dexterous warrior ruler. He was married to a Byzantine aristocrat.

In 632, Khan Kubrat rallied the Bulgarian tribes. The capital of the state was Fanagoria. Great Bulgaria Khan Kubrat occupied the territory of the Azov and Black Sea steppes. The ruler fought for power among the Turks. He succeeded in overthrowing the yoke of the Avars and creating a strong state. Great Bulgaria in strength held the second place among the European states after Byzantium. The years of Kurbat rule Bulgaria - 635-650th.

In 634-641 years. Kubrat concluded a friendly alliance with the Byzantine emperor and received a patrician. This meant that the khan fell under the rule of the emperor. There is no information about the spread of Christianity among the Bulgarians, but the fact that the ancestor of the Tatar people was a Christian remains an indisputable fact.

Some historians also argue that Kubrat later renounced Christianity and returned to the original religion, which was Altaic.

Ancient Will

On the building of the Bulgarian parliament are writtenwonderful words: "Connection is power." It is believed that this wisdom belongs to Khan Kubrat. It was he who taught his sons that the armful of rods is not easy to break, so it's so important to stick together.

However, the children of Kubrat did not obey their father, and therefore were conquered by the Khazars.

Kubrat himself died in 665.

The fate of sons

Khan Kubrat, whose biography we are considering, had five sons:

• Batbayan was faithful to his father's will and remained in Bulgaria. But after the conquest the Khazars had to pay tribute to them.
• Kotrag headed the tribe of kotragov. Historians believe that both tribes later formed the Volga Bulgaria. Modern Tatars recognize Kotra as the founder of Tatarstan, many of them consider themselves descendants of ancient Bulgarians. Indeed, the Kazan Tatars and the Caucasian Bulgarians have similar languages. And speaking of the great ruler (Father Kotrag) in his native language, the Tatars would have used the phrase "rundanda khan Kubrat", where the first word is translated into Russian as the preposition "o".
• Asparuh with a tribe of begoards went to the Danube River. It was he who fought with Byzantium, defeated Constantine IV and founded the state of Bulgaria.
• The Coober (or Kuver) moved south to modern Macedonia.
• Alzek, the younger son of Kubrat, went to the territory of modern Italy, where he submitted to the Christian kings.

So the fate of the five sons of Kubrat, who did not obey his father's command, was formed.

Historical significance and events after

The reign of Khan Kubrat left a significant markin world history. It was at this time among the Bulgars formed three social groups: nomads, farmers and artisans. Unfortunately, the state did not last long - only a quarter of a century.

After the Khan's death, the state split, andlater fell into decay and was subdued by the Khazars. They were based in the North Caucasus. However, historians believe that Khazars and Bulgarians are ethnically close people. Nevertheless, the Khazars sought to seize the Azov Sea with its beautiful pastures and Black Sea ports. With this act, the formation of the Khazar state began. However, this is a completely different story.

A valuable find

In May 1912 in the Ukrainian village MaloePereshchepino found a treasure, consisting of gold dishes, jewelry, coins. Total gold items were found 25 kg, silver - 50 kg. The treasure was sent for storage to the Hermitage of St. Petersburg.

Munich professor Werner cited evidence that the items found belonged to Khan Kubrat. And a part of these riches got to him from the emperor Irakli.

A particularly noteworthy finding is the three rings belonging to the khan. On two of them monograms with the name of Kubrat were made.

The most valuable item found is the swordlength of 95 cm and weighing more than a kilogram. It is lined with gold and has incrustations made of glass. Specialists say that such a sword, of course, did not go into battle. This is a ceremonial item, which was used at the celebrations. Proof of this - the production of a sword of gold and a small size of a hilt.

Nowadays the sword is shown in special cases at rare exhibitions. Unfortunately, there is no permanent exhibition of the Hermitage.

Ornaments on the sword, and the way it is made, refer to Iranian traditions. This nuance says a lot about the origins of the ancient Bulgarians as a nationality.

Monument

The village, where they found the treasures of Khan Kubrat, is consideredthe burial place of the great ruler. In 2001, they erected a monument there. The initiator of the installation was the editor of the local newspaper DI Kostova. The staff of the editorial office and the deputy of the Ukrainian Rada N. Gaber also took part in the work.

On the 10th anniversary of the unveiling of the monument in 2011arrived Ukrainian Bulgarians, also attended by representatives of local authorities and officials of Bulgaria. In the village itself works the Bulgarian-Ukrainian Museum, where the guests went after the solemn ceremony.

In the literature and cinema

The identity of the ruler-warrior did not go unnoticed among artists.

Historical novel of Musagit Habibullin"Kubrat-khan" tells about the events of the middle of the 7th century. The novel shows the aggravated relations between Khazars and Bulgarians. The tribal alliance of the Bulgarians, led by Kubrat, was in a difficult situation. The writer tells how the Khan saved the state he created.

In 2006, the director P. Petkov made a documentary film "Bulgarians". In it the author tries to find answers to questions about who such Bulgarians are as an ethnos, what a great past they have in themselves conceal. The key figure of the film is the great Khan Kubrat.