History
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BULGARIAN STATE
For the first time the name Great Bulgaria was mentioned in Byzantine texts describing the tribal union that took place in 7th century in the lands between Caucasus, Volga and the Carpathians. Khan Kubrat was supreme ruler at the time and it is assumed that he was a Christian yet then and held the title Patrician. It is presumed also that the world famous treasure from Malaya Pereshchepina (almost 800 gold and silver articles with total weight of 50 kg) is actually the treasure he was buried with as was the custom with such high ranking persons. Today the treasure is kept at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and copies of some articles are available at the National Historical Museum in Sofia.
After Khan Kubrat's death, his kingdom was divided between his sons who split with the thought of conquering new territories. Two of them established independent Bulgarian states: Volga Bulgaria (between Volga and Kama rivers, on today’s Tatarstan territory, called Bulgaristan until 1922 and whose successors still identify themselves as Bulgarians) and the Danube Bulgaria situated on the territory of modern Bulgaria.
For the first time the name Great Bulgaria was mentioned in Byzantine texts describing the tribal union that took place in 7th century in the lands between Caucasus, Volga and the Carpathians. Khan Kubrat was supreme ruler at the time and it is assumed that he was a Christian yet then and held the title Patrician. It is presumed also that the world famous treasure from Malaya Pereshchepina (almost 800 gold and silver articles with total weight of 50 kg) is actually the treasure he was buried with as was the custom with such high ranking persons. Today the treasure is kept at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and copies of some articles are available at the National Historical Museum in Sofia.
After Khan Kubrat's death, his kingdom was divided between his sons who split with the thought of conquering new territories. Two of them established independent Bulgarian states: Volga Bulgaria (between Volga and Kama rivers, on today’s Tatarstan territory, called Bulgaristan until 1922 and whose successors still identify themselves as Bulgarians) and the Danube Bulgaria situated on the territory of modern Bulgaria.
