![Khans Dulo of Bulgaria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Khans_Dulo_of_Bulgaria.jpg)
The Dulo clan was a ruling dynasty of the
Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
. The origins of the Bulgars and Dulo clan are not known precisely, and there are many theories about their origin.
It is generally considered that they – or at least the elite caste – were intimately related to the origin and activity of the
Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
and
Western Turkic Khaganate
The Western Turkic Khaganate () or Onoq Khaganate ( otk, 𐰆𐰣:𐰸:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, On oq budun, Ten arrow people) was a Turkic khaganate in Eurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593–603 CE) after t ...
. Particularly, it is said that the Dulo descended from the rulers of Great Bulgaria, which was founded by
Khan
Khan may refer to:
*Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan
*Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name
*Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...
Asparuh
Asparuh (also ''Ispor''; bg, Аспарух, Asparuh or (rarely) bg, Исперих, Isperih) was а ruler of Bulgars in the second half of the 7th century and is credited with the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681.
Early life
...
's (681–701) father on the steppes of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. This state was a centralized monarchy from its inception, unlike previous Hunno-Turkic political entities, which were tribal confederations.
The royal family and rulers of
Old Great Bulgaria (632–668) and the first half of the
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Europ ...
(681–1018), in their prince lists (''
Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans'') claimed through Irnik, who was probably related to or was
Attila
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
's son
Ernak Ernak was the last known ruler of the Huns, and the third son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, an ...
himself, or at least of
Attilid descent.
During the pagan period, the succession of clan leadership was based on traditions brought over to the Balkans from the
Eurasian Steppe
The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistri ...
, which include the rulers' divine ancestry. At the head of the clan was the ''
Khan
Khan may refer to:
*Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan
*Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name
*Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...
'', who reigned as the head of state, military leader, and probably high priest of the Bulgar god,
Tangra.
Research history
Most of what is known about the clan is written in the ''
Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans''. The ''Nominalia'' lists as the first ruler mythical
Avitohol
Avitohol (153?–453?) is the first name in the '' Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans''. Little is known about him. According to the document he is from the Dulo clan and most probably was considered and respected as the forefather of the khans. ...
, who lived 300 years and descended from the Dulo clan. Josef Marquart and many other historians identified Avitohol with
Attila
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
the Hun.
Steven Runciman
Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54).
He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...
considered the connection possible, but suspicious and unimportant if the link between Irnik-Ernak is confirmed. Runciman considered the name Avitohol meaningless and its biblical origin more convincing. He considered that the missionaries were spreading
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
stories around the
Eurasian Steppe
The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistri ...
s, as well the story of
Japheth
Japheth ( he, יֶפֶת ''Yép̄eṯ'', in pausa ''Yā́p̄eṯ''; el, Ἰάφεθ '; la, Iafeth, Iapheth, Iaphethus, Iapetus) is one of the three sons of Noah in the Book of Genesis, in which he plays a role in the story of Noah's drunk ...
, the ancestor of Eurasian people, which easily modifies into the Latin name ''
Avitus
Eparchius Avitus (c. 390 – 457) was Roman emperor of the West from July 455 to October 456. He was a senator of Gallic extraction and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.
He o ...
'' (ancestral; grandfather) and Turkish ''Awit'' (ancestor) it derives from. Runciman considered Avitohol to be a distant mythological ancestor. Ivan Biliarsky considers that both Avitohol and Irnik were only mythic figures of the historical personalities.
According to him the ''Nominalia'' shows that the clan memory and genealogy important to Central Asian peoples was likewise significant to the Bulgars, as well the cosmological understanding of the history, as the Avitohol and Irnik were mentioned in the category of the ''creator'' and ''founder'', the mythological divine ''ancestor-creator'' represented in the reincarnation of the cultural hero within time cycles.
Jean W Sedlar considered the Attila connection justly doubtful, and argued the possibility of a steppe dynasty which produced Hunnic rulers like Attila may have also produced rulers for the Bulgars.
The second listed ruler is Irnik, who lived 150 years and also descended from the Dulo clan. It is generally considered that in the ''Nominalia'' under Irnik was considered the third son of Attila,
Ernak Ernak was the last known ruler of the Huns, and the third son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, an ...
.
Vasil Zlatarski
Vasil Nikolov Zlatarski ( bg, Васил Николов Златарски; – 15 December 1935) was a Bulgarian historian-medievalist, archaeologist, and epigraphist.
Life
Vasil Zlatarski was born in Veliko Tarnovo in 1866, the youngest c ...
thought the identification between Irnik and Ernak pointless, and they were two different persons and families. Zlatarski pointed out, which points Runciman considered to be indisputable; if Irnik was Ernak, then both Ernak and Attila belonged to the Dulo clan, whereas, actually, no source mentions Dulo clan in connection with them; according to the ''Nominalia'' Irnik ruled from 437, i.e. several years before the death of Attila in 453, which is impossible. Due to be assigned a reign of 150 years, Runciman considered the inaccuracy of the date of accession as venial mistake.
Kurt (
Kubrat; c. 632–665), a member of the clan, revolted against the
Pannonian Avars
The Pannonian Avars () were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in chronicles of Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai ( el, Βαρχονίτες, Varchonítes), or Pseudo-Avars ...
and founded the
Old Great Bulgaria on the territory of modern
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
.
During the second half of the 7th century his sons split up the Bulgar royal family and spread over Europe, from the
Volga river
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
to the shadow of
Matese mountains:
Bezmer Bezmer (Bulgarian: Безмер) may refer to:
* Bezmer, Dobrich Province, a village in Tervel municipality
* Bezmer, Yambol Province, a village in Tundzha municipality
* Bezmer Point, a promontory on the northwest coast of the Varna Peninsula, Li ...
(
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
),
Kotrag (
Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wi ...
),
Kuber (
Balkan Macedonia),
Asparukh (
Danube Bulgaria
The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Europ ...
) and
Alcek (
Sepino
Sepino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Campobasso in the Italian region Molise, located about south of Campobasso.
The archaeological site of Saepinum is located nearby. Sepino borders the following municipalities: Cercemaggio ...
,
Bojano,
Isernia
Isernia () or, in Pliny and later writers, ''Eserninus'', or in the Antonine Itinerary, ''Serni''. is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of province of Isernia.
Geography
Situated on a rocky crest ri ...
). In the ''Nominalia'' the Bezmer (c. 665–668) was the last Dulo ruler on the northern side of
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
river (of the Old Great Bulgaria), while the Asparukh (c. 681–701) was the first from the southern side of the river (First Bulgarian Empire). He was followed by
Tervel (c. 700–721), and the last ruler of Bulgaria from the Dulo clan,
Sevar
Sevar ( bg, Севар) was a ruler of Bulgaria in the 8th century.
The Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans states that Sevar belonged to the Dulo clan and ruled for 15 years. According to the chronology developed by Moskov, Sevar would have reigne ...
(c. 721–737). According to
Theophanes, in 761 or 762 the Bulgars "''rose up, killed their hereditary lords and set up as their king an evil-minded man called
Teletzes, who was 30 years old''".
Historians usually interpreted the testimony as evidence of a massacre of the previous dynasty (the Dulo clan), and the rise of a new leader with no connection to the previous regime.
Origin
The exact origin is obscure.
Some researchers consider that the origin of the clan probably was Turkic.
This proposition was suggested by
Mikhail Artamonov,
and was prompted by
Lev Gumilev
Lev Nikolayevich Gumilyov (russian: Лев Никола́евич Гумилёв; 1 October 1912 – 15 June 1992) was a Soviet historian, ethnologist, anthropologist and translator. He had a reputation for his highly unorthodox theories of e ...
(1967), implying there may be made an association of the Dulo clan with the five
Duolu (or To-lu) tribes of the
Western Turks.
The
First Turkic Khaganate
The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bumin ...
(552–581) was during the
Göktürk civil war
The Göktürk civil war or Turkic interregnum was a number of political crises in the Turkic Khaganate first between 583 and 603, which resulted in the split of the khaganate into Western and Eastern.
Background
The Turkic Khaganate was an ...
(581–593) divided into Western and Eastern Khaganate. The Western was led by ''Onoq'' (ten arrows), the five Duolu and five
Nushibi
Nushibi (Nu-shibi, ; Middle Chinese: *''nuoXɕiɪt̚piɪt̚'') was a Chinese collective name for five tribes of the right (western) wingYu. Zuev, ''"The Strongest tribe - Izgil"''//Historical And Cultural Relations Between Iran And Dasht-i Kipc ...
tribes.
Many modern historians consider that the first historical Bulgar ruler Kubrat belonged to the Dulo clan of the Western Turks - the so-called alliance
Onogurs
The Onoğurs or Oğurs (Ὀνόγουροι, Οὔρωγοι, Οὔγωροι; Onογurs, Ογurs; "ten tribes", "tribes"), were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between 5th and 7th cen ...
Bulgars.
Some historians have even identified the Western qaghan ''
Moheduo'' (
Külüg Sibir
Külüg Sibir or Baghatur Khagan (r. 630) was a ruler of the Western Turkic Khaganate (empire) in the 7th century. He was probably Tardu's son and the governor of the northern provinces of the empire during the reigns of his nephews. (''see'' Gö ...
) with
Organa
Organa (Alpo-Morgan) was Kubrat's maternal uncle of the Ermi clan. According to John of Nikiu, he was regent (kavkhan) over the tribe of the Onogur Bulgars from 617 to 630 in place of his nephew, Kubrat, for the time Kubrat was growing up as a h ...
, the maternal uncle of Kubrat.
Accurately or not, it still points to the rivalry between the Bulgars, led by Kubrat from the Dulo clan, and the
Khazars
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
, led by the
Ashina Ashina may refer to:
*Ashina tribe, a ruling dynasty of the Turkic Khaganate
*Ashina clan (Japan),_one_of_the_Japanese_clans
*Ashina_District,_Hiroshima.html" ;"title="DF 7 of 80; retrieved 2013-5-4 ..., one of the Japanese clans
*Ashina District, H ...
clan.
Omeljan Pritsak further considered the connection of the name of Dulo clan with the name of the old
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
ruling house 屠各 ''Tuge'' (in
Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
''d'o-klâk'').
This association could further prove the link between Xiongnu and Huns (as well Huns and Bulgars).
Peter B. Golden
Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is an American historian who is Professor Emeritus of History, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has written many books and articles on Turkic peoples, Turkic and Central Asian Studies, ...
surmises that the Xiongnu tribal surname 獨孤
Dugu (< ''d'uk-kuo'') or 屠各 ''Tuge'' (< ''d'o-klâk'') possibly reflects underlying
Turkic *''Tuğqu'' or *''Tuğlağ'' "tribe of the
tuğ
Tugh ( az, Tuğ) or Togh ( hy, Տող) is a village in the Khojavend District of Azerbaijan, in the Political status of Nagorno-Karabakh, disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The village had a mixed Armenian-Azerbaijani population before the Firs ...
?"
[Golden, Peter B. (1992) An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples. p. 58] yet still considers the Turkic association as speculative.
Mercia MacDermott
Mercia MacDermott (; bg, Мерсия Макдермот; born 7 April 1927) is an English writer and historian. MacDermott is known for her books on Bulgarian history.
Early life
Mercia was born on 7 April 1927 in Plymouth, Devon, United Ki ...
claimed that the Dulo clan had the dog as its sacred animal.
MacDermott considered that the Bulgarian expression preserved to this day "''he kills the dog''", in the meaning "''he gives the orders''", is a relic of the time when the Dulo Khan sacrificed a dog to the deity
Tangra in the name of the whole community.
Some modern Bulgarian scholars, the most prominent of them, namely Peter Dobrev, argued that the Turkic names of the animals in the
Bulgar calendar The Bulgar calendar was a solar calendar system used by the Bulgars, a Turkic people, originally from Central Asia, who from the 4th century onwards dwelt in the Eurasian steppes north of the Caucasus and around the banks of river Volga. In 681, pa ...
(also found in the ''Nominalia'') show that the Turkic peoples had borrowed these words from the Iranian language (Bulgars). However, according to
Raymond Detrez, this theory is rooted in the periods of anti-Turkish sentiment in Bulgaria, and is ideologically motivated.
As such the proto-Bulgar language (of the group which established the state of Bulgaria), was claimed to be of Iranian language although it is generally accepted it was Turkic of
Oghuric
The Oghuric, Onoguric or Oguric languages (also known as Bulgar, Pre-Proto-Bulgaric or Lir-Turkic and r-Turkic) are a branch of the Turkic language family. The only extant member of the group is the Chuvash language. The first to branch off from ...
branch and related to modern
Chuvash.
Aleksandar Burmov noted that the medieval writers under various names mentioned Huns and Bulgars, and some authors mentioned them as separate ethnic categories. The cases of mixing information for Bulgars and Huns in some authors, as well as possible rapprochement of the names Avitohol - Attila and Irnik - Ernak, do not give reason to draw a line of equality between the two ethnic groups. According to Burmov there is no historical evidence that the Bulgars and Huns lived in the same territory. Burmov, Peter B. Golden,
Gyula Németh and Panos Sophoulis concluded that claiming of Attilid descent shows the intermingling of European Huns elements with newly arrived Oğuric Turkic groups, as the number of evidence of linguistic, ethnographic and socio-political nature show that Bulgars belonged to the group of Turkic peoples.
Etymology
B. Zhivkov emphasized that
Duolu and
Nushibi
Nushibi (Nu-shibi, ; Middle Chinese: *''nuoXɕiɪt̚piɪt̚'') was a Chinese collective name for five tribes of the right (western) wingYu. Zuev, ''"The Strongest tribe - Izgil"''//Historical And Cultural Relations Between Iran And Dasht-i Kipc ...
were tribal confederations, and not ruling dynasties.
B. Simeonov derived ''Dulu'' from Turkic ''dul/tul'' (big, powerful, giant; war horse), and saw ''Dulo'' as partly Slavicized form.
Simeonov derived ''*Dullu'' from Old Hunnic ''dul + lu'' (mounted, horseman),
yet according to
Peter B. Golden
Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is an American historian who is Professor Emeritus of History, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has written many books and articles on Turkic peoples, Turkic and Central Asian Studies, ...
, no such Hunnic word is attested.
According to
G. Clauson, Old Turkic ''tul'' denotes "widow, widower".
Golden, citing
Lajos Ligeti
Lajos Ligeti (October 28, 1902, Balassagyarmat – May 24, 1987, Budapest) was a Hungarian orientalist and philologist, who specialized in Mongolian and Turkic languages. After completing his secondary studies in his native town, he entered the ...
(1986), wondered if Dulo resulted from Slavicism of Turkic title
Yula. Even so, all hypotheses P. B. Golden considers for now as speculative.
Legacy
Dulo Hill
Dulo Hill ( bg, хълм Дуло, ‘Halm Dulo’ \'h&lm 'du-lo\) is a rocky hill rising to in Dospey Heights on Byers Peninsula of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It overlooks President Beaches to the south.
The ...
on
Livingston Island
Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...
, near
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
, is named after the Bulgarian ruling dynasty Dulo.
Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica:
Dulo Hill.
References
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dulo Clan
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