Europe · The successor kingdoms
Old Great Bulgaria
632–668
Old Great Bulgaria (Magna Bulgaria) was a short-lived nomadic confederation on the Pontic–Caspian steppe north of the Black Sea, centered on the Onogur-Bulgar tribes. It was founded around 632 by Khan Kubrat, who united the Onogur and related tribes and threw off Avar overlordship, establishing an independent realm with Byzantine recognition (Kubrat had connections to Constantinople and held the title of patrician).
- Existed
- 632–668
- Shown on the map
- AD 633–681
- Peak area
- 303k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
Old Great Bulgaria (Magna Bulgaria) was a short-lived nomadic confederation on the Pontic–Caspian steppe north of the Black Sea, centered on the Onogur-Bulgar tribes. It was founded around 632 by Khan Kubrat, who united the Onogur and related tribes and threw off Avar overlordship, establishing an independent realm with Byzantine recognition (Kubrat had connections to Constantinople and held the title of patrician).
Upon Kubrat's death (traditionally dated around 665, with the state fragmenting by 668), and under pressure from the expanding Khazars, the confederation broke apart. According to the traditional account (transmitted by Byzantine sources like Theophanes and Nikephoros, and reflected in the legend of Kubrat's sons), his sons dispersed: Asparuh (Isperih) led one group westward across the Danube, where he founded the First Bulgarian Empire around 680–681; Kotrag led another group north to the middle Volga, founding Volga Bulgaria; and Batbayan remained behind under Khazar domination. Other groups moved into the Balkans and Italy.
Historiographical note
The "sons of Kubrat" narrative is schematic and partly legendary; the precise dates and the historicity of the migrations are debated, though the general dispersal is accepted.
Common questions
- What was Old Great Bulgaria?
- Old Great Bulgaria (Magna Bulgaria) was a short-lived nomadic confederation on the Pontic–Caspian steppe north of the Black Sea, centered on the Onogur-Bulgar tribes. It was founded around 632 by Khan Kubrat, who united the Onogur and related tribes and threw off Avar overlordship, establishing an independent realm with Byzantine recognition (Kubrat had connections to Constantinople and held the title of patrician).
- When did Old Great Bulgaria exist?
- Old Great Bulgaria existed 632–668. On this map it is drawn AD 633–681.
- How large was Old Great Bulgaria?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Old Great Bulgaria covered about 303,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity as the primary basis, cross-checked against Encyclopædia Britannica and the World History Encyclopedia, while flagging entries built on thin or contested evidence — Samo's Empire on a single Fredegar passage, Venice's 697 founding date as legendary, the Pacta conventa as a probable forgery. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Old Great Bulgaria en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Great_Bulgaria
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
Further reading in Knowledge
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