The settlement of the territory, which currently belongs to the inhabitants of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Chuvash Republic, began about 100,000 years ago, in the Paleolithic era. At the end of the 9th century and at the beginning of the 10th century, the first feudal state arose here - the Volga Bulgaria. For quite a long time it was the only developed state in the territory of the extreme East of Europe. Presumably, the Bulgars were the earliest Turkic group, which during the Great Migration of Peoples was among those who advanced to Europe.
Persian and Arab geographers considered Volga Bulgaria to be the northernmost Muslim country in the world. The date of adoption of Islam in this country is considered to be 922. It was then that the caliph of Baghdad sent a group of the future embassy to the city of Bolgar, which included builders and preachers of Islam. Due to the fact that the state was constantly pressed by the mightyneighbor, the Khazar Khaganate, the king of Bulgaria Almush was forced to convert to Islam and become a loyal subject of Caliph Bogdad. Thus, he was able to strengthen the defense of his country, becoming an ally of the Arab Caliphate. But there were also Bulgars who refused to accept Islam. This group, led by Prince Vyrag, separated. This gave impetus to the emergence of the Chuvash nation. Later, the people adopted Christianity and became the only Orthodox Turkic people.
During its development, the Volga Bulgaria has achieved a lot. According to a written source of that period, this state was called the country of a thousand cities. Bilyar and Bolgar were considered the largest cities, which, in terms of their area and population, surpassed such cities of that time as London, Kyiv, Paris, Novgorod. So, for example, Bolgar was three times larger than Paris. In its central part towered the royal palace and the Cathedral Mosque. Already at that time, baths with tap water were built in the city. The residential buildings had heating and sewerage. In addition to the above, the state was also called the country of reason. And these are not empty words. Such sciences as medicine, history, astronomy, and mathematics have achieved great development here.
The Volga Bulgaria reached its peak during the reign of Emir Gabdulla Chelbir. During this period, the Bulgars were quite strong in the art of war. This confirms the fact that the Volga Bulgars are the only people who were able to defeat the troops of Genghis Khan in 1223. After that, the Mongols 13 years unsuccessfullystormed the Bulgarian state. Only in 1229, having gathered all their forces at the Yaik (Ural) River, the Mongols were able to defeat the Bulgars and Polovtsy and began to rapidly move across the territory of the state, and in 1936 it was completely ruined. Part of the Bulgars fled and found protection from the Grand Prince of Vladimir.
Already in 1240, the Bulgar state became part of the Golden Horde. For a long time there were mass uprisings of the Bulgars. According to Khudyakov M. G., the looting of the capital - the city of Bolgar - and the transfer of the cultural and political center to Kazan put an end to hopes for the return of the former state. The Kazan Khanate is now firmly entrenched in these lands. The remaining indigenous people had to adapt to the new authorities. Gradually, the creation of mixed families of the Bulgars-Tatars took place, however, all newborn children were considered Tatars. There was, so to speak, the "eradication" of such a nationality as the Bulgars, and the emergence of a new one - the Volga Tatars.
As for the Bulgar language, it just died. Many scholars tried to find in the modern Tatar language at least a few words close to the Bulgar origin. However, here it is necessary to take into account one more nationality - the Chuvash. If you remember, this is precisely the part of the Turkic group that did not accept Islam and separated. It is they who speak the archaic Turkic language, which is unlike any other language. And when comparing the ancient chronicles of the Volga Bulgars and the Chuvash language, you can find many identical words. In a word, the Chuvash language is as close as possible toBulgarian.
