Almış or Almuš (Almysh Elteber, Almish Yiltawar, , , ),

iltäbär An elteber ( or ''(h)elitbär''; Chinese 頡利發 ''xié-lì-fā'' < EMCh: *''γεt-li^H-puat'') was a

of the Volga Bulgars, is believed to have been the first

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

ruler (

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

) of

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria (sometimes referred to as the Volga Bulgar Emirate) was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now Europea ...

. Almış was a son of

Şilki Şilki (pronounced ) or Šilki or Shilki, or possibly Jilki (posthumously Islamized as ˁAbdallāh; mid 9th to beginning of the 10th century) was a Volga Bulgarian ruler (iltäbär). According to the controversial ''History of Jaˁfar'', Şilki was ...

(). He ruled the Volga Bulgars, probably from

Bolghar Bolghar (; Tatar language, Tatar: Болгар, بلغار, ''Bolğar''; Chuvash language, Chuvash: Аслă Пăлхар, ''Aslă Pălhar'') was intermittently the capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 10th to the 13th centuries, along with Bilär, ...

, in c. 895-925. According to the controversial ''History of Jaˁfar'', Almış was a younger son of Şilki, and had succeeded his older brother Bat Ugïr as ruler. The same text identifies Almış with

Álmos Álmos (), also Almos or Almus ( 820 – 895), was—according to the uniform account of Hungarian chronicles—the first head of the "loose federation" of the Hungarian tribes from around 850. Whether he was the Sacred king, sacred ruler (''k ...

, the father of the Hungarian prince

Árpád Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the Magyar tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or '' kende'' of the Hungarians, or their military leader or '' g ...

; this is perhaps unlikely despite the close correspondence of the names and the approximate synchronicity, although the Bulgars and Hungarians are believed to have shared some common Hunnic and/or Onoghuric elements in their origins. Initially a vassal of the

Khazars The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...

, Almış struggled to assert the independence and unity of the Bulgar tribes in the area. Perhaps in part to do so more effectively, he sought to convert to Islam and sent ambassadors to the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, seeking proper instruction in Islam and builders to erect a proper mosque. In 922, the

al-Muqtadir Abū’l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Al-Mu'tadid, Aḥmad ibn Al-Muwaffaq, Ṭalḥa ibn Al-Mutawakkil, Jaʿfar ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn Al-Muqtadir bi'Llāh () (895 – 31 October 932 AD), better known by his regnal name a ...

's ambassador Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān reached Bolghar and met with Almış. The

Abbasid caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

became an ally of

. Almış adopted the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic name Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbdallāh ( Latin Tatar: ''Cäğfär bine Ğabdulla'',

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...

: ). It is generally believed that during the reign of Almış, Volga Bulgaria developed into a united, strong and independent state. However, apart from his culturally and religiously significant conversion to Islam, the account of Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān makes Almış the only Volga Bulgaran ruler about whom we have a relative wealth of information from surviving contemporary sources. Even so, we know little that is verifiable about his reign. Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān makes reference to brothers, wives, and children of Almış; two of his daughters were married, respectively, to the

Khazar The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, an ...

khaghan and to the ruler of the

Esegel Esegels (aka ''Izgil'' (), ''Äsägel'', ''Askel'', ''Askil'', ''Ishkil'', ''Izgil'') were an Oghur Turkic dynastic tribe in the Middle Ages who joined and would be assimilated into the Volga Bulgars. Numerous records about Esegels in sources and ...

; a son was named Aḥmad in honor of Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān. According to the controversial ''History of Jaˁfar'', Almış was succeeded in turn by two of his sons, Ḥasan (c. 925-930) and Mīkāˀīl (c. 930-943). Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān, the caliphal ambassador, has left an account of his journey to and meeting with Almış, describing him as "the king of the

Saqaliba Saqaliba (, singular ) is a term used in medieval Arabic sources to refer to Slavs, and other peoples of Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe. The term originates from the Middle Greek '' slavos/sklavenos'' (Slav), which in Hispano-Ara ...

".Richard Frye, Ibn Fadlan's Journey to Russia, 2005, page 44

Genealogy

Kubrat Kubrat (; ) was the ruler of the Onogur–Bulgars, credited with establishing the confederation of Old Great Bulgaria in 632. His name derived from the Turkic words ''qobrat'' — "to gather", or ''qurt'', i.e. "wolf". Origin In the '' Nomi ...

Kotrag Kotrag was according to Nikephoros I of Constantinople a son of Kubrat of the Dulo clan of Bulgars. Following the death of his father, he began to extend the influence of his Bulgars to the Volga River. He is remembered as the founder of Volg ...

* Timer (Juraš) - only in ''History of Jaˁfar'' * Sulabi - only in ''History of Jaˁfar'' * Ayyar - only in ''History of Jaˁfar'' * Tat Utyak - only in ''History of Jaˁfar'' * Kan Qarajar - only in ''History of Jaˁfar'' * Ugïr Aydar - only in ''History of Jaˁfar'' * Şilki * Almış

References

* * Frye, R., ''Ibn Fadlan's Journey to Russia'', Princeton, 2005. * Golden, P. B., ''An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples'', Wiesbaden, 1992. * Golden, P. B., "Nomads of the western Eurasian steppes: Ogurs, Onogurs and Khazars, in: H. Roemer et al. (eds.), ''Philologiae Turcicae Fundamenta'', III, Berlin, 2001: 282-302. * Kovalevskij, A. P., ''Kniga Ahmeda ibn-Fadlana o ego putešestvii na Volgu v 921-922 g.'', Har'kov, 1956. * Montgomery, J. (trans.), Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, ''Mission to the Volga'', New York, 2017. * Nurutdinov, F., et al. (eds.), Bahši Iman, ''Džagfar tarihy'', vol. 1, Orenburg, 1993. {{DEFAULTSORT:Almis Volga Bulgaria History of Tatarstan 10th-century monarchs in Europe Converts to Islam Muslim monarchs

Genealogy

See also

References