Old Great Bulgaria: Map & History
Old Great Bulgaria, also often known by the Latin names Magna Bulgaria and Patria Onoguria, was a 7th-century Turkic nomadic empire formed by the Onogur-Bulgars on the western Pontic–Caspian steppe.
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Old Great Bulgaria, also often known by the Latin names Magna Bulgaria and Patria Onoguria, was a 7th-century Turkic nomadic empire formed by the Onogur-Bulgars on the western Pontic–Caspian steppe. Great Bulgaria was originally centered between the Dniester and lower Volga.
Modern Countries Once Part of Old Great Bulgaria
At its mapped extent, Old Great Bulgaria covered territory in 3 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Old Great Bulgaria's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Old Great Bulgaria in Depth
Origins
The etymology of the ethnonym Bulgar is not completely understood; it is difficult to trace the name back earlier than the 4th century AD. It is generally believed to derive from the Turkic verb bulğha (to "stir", "mix", "disturb", "confuse"), possibly suggesting that other Turkic peoples regarded the Bulgars as a "mixed" people, or as "rebellious".
Later Byzantine scholars implied that the Bulgars had previously been known as the Onogurs (Onoğur). Agathon wrote about the "nation of Onogur Bulğars", Nikephoros I stated that Kubrat was lord of the Onogundurs, Theophanes referred to them as Onogundur Bulgars and Constantine VII remarked that the Bulgars formerly called themselves Onogundurs.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Old Great Bulgaria (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Old Great Bulgaria Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 301,064 km² in 664 CE.
Old Great Bulgaria: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Old Great Bulgaria exist?
Old Great Bulgaria is dated to 633 CE – 681 CE, in the Early Middle Ages era.
What was the capital of Old Great Bulgaria?
The capital of Old Great Bulgaria was Phanagoria, (632–665).
How large was Old Great Bulgaria at its peak?
At its peak in 664 AD Old Great Bulgaria covered about 301,064 km².
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