''Veda Slovena'' (Веда Словена in Modern Bulgarian, originally written as Веда Словенахъ) is an ethnographic collection of folk songs and legends of the

Muslim Bulgarians The Bulgarian Muslims or Muslim Bulgarians ( bg, Българи-мохамедани, ''Bǎlgari-mohamedani'', as of recently also Българи-мюсюлмани, ''Bǎlgari-mjusjulmani'', locally called ''Pomak'', ''ahryan'', ''poganets'', '' ...

; the subtitle of the book indicated that they were collected from the regions of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

and Macedonia (see image right). The first volume of which was printed in 1874 in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

and the second in 1881 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

under the authorship of

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ethnic group in the country after Bosniaks and Serbs of Bosnia and H ...

Stjepan Verković. The collection has unusual themes and content - it deals with pagan gods, supernatural beings, mythological heroes, ancient kings and lords - knowledge and cultural memories formed long before the

Islamization Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...

of the

Pomaks Pomaks ( bg, Помаци, Pomatsi; el, Πομάκοι, Pomáki; tr, Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is ...

, but also before the

Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

of the

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

people. The collection was assembled by

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n teacher Ivan Gologanov for 12 years and is famous for containing numerous elements of ancient

Slavic mythology Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the B ...

notwithstanding the conversions first to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and then to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. ''Veda Slovena'' has been alleged to have been partly or fully forged by Gologanov ever since its publication, dividing scholarly circles into two groups, the one considering the texts to be forged, the other defending their genuineness. Recently editions like "Bulgarian Encyclopaedia"''Българска енциклопедия. Електронно издание.'' Българска академия на науките, С. 2002 consider ''Veda Slovena'' to be a mystification. After a long-term inquiry in the Rhodopes, Todor Riznikov became convinced of the authenticity of the songs. In 1991, Ivan Bogdanov's monograph „Веда Словена и нашето време“ was published, which is the most serious attempt to prove the authenticity of the document.

References

{{Reflist

External links

ВЕДА СЛОВЕНА/VEDA SLOVENA/LE VEDA SLAVE - Београдъ, 1874 - US archive, Oxford university (full scanned copy)

Full text of ''Veda Slovena''
(in dialectal Bulgarian and Cyrillic)

(Archive.org)

Slavic mythology Bulgarian folklore 1874 books Books about Bulgaria

See also

References

External links