Bilär or Bilyarsk (; ) was a medieval city in
Volga Bulgaria and its second capital before the
Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria. It was located on the left bank of the
Small Cheremshan River in
Alexeeyevsky District of the
Tatarstan
Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...
. Its erstwhile location is from
the current village of the same name and from
Kazan
Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
.
History
The city was founded around 10th century by the indigenous Bilär tribe of the
Volga Bulgars. In Russian chronicles, it was also known as the "Great City" (), because its population reputedly was in excess of 100,000.
Bilyar was one of the main trade centers in the
Middle Volga, and alternatively with the
Bulgar city and Nur-Suvar, served as the capital of
Volga Bulgaria in the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1236,
the city was sacked by the army of
Batu Khan. The city was later rebuilt, but it never regained its former size or power. The city's ruins (nearly ) were explored by Rychkov,
Tatischev, Khalikov and Khuchin.
Bilyar was the capital of the Volga-Kama-Bulgaria from the 10th century until the early 13th century. It was also one of the
largest cities of medieval
Eurasia
Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...
. The end of the city in 1236 also resulted in the loss of its monumental architecture.
In 1654, near the site of Bilyar, a Russian border fort called
Bilär was founded.
Bilyar Point on
Livingston Island
Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetland Islands, South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands north of the ...
in the
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...
,
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
is named after Bilär.
Bilyar Point.
SCAR
A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrosis, fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other Organ (anatomy), organs, and biological tissue, t ...
Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica
The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about th ...
In popular culture
Bilyarsk was the home of a fictional Soviet air force base in Craig Thomas' ''Firefox
Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements curr ...
'' novel and subsequent film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
, about the fictional MiG-31 Firefox aircraft stolen by United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
pilot Mitchell Gant. In reality, Bilyarsk has no airport and the closest full-service airport is in Kazan
Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
, Tatarstan
Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...
in Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, northwest of Bilyarsk.
Notable people
* Alexander Arbuzov (1877–1968), chemist
Gallery
File:Wikiexpedition to Bilyar 15.jpg, Bilyar Historical Archeological Museum
File:Wikiexpedition to Bilyar 23.jpg, A piece of Bilyar mill
File:Wikiexpedition to Bilyar 14.jpg, Old Bilyar map
File:Wikiexpedition to Bilyar 10.jpg, Old pots from ancient Bilyar
See also
* Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...
* Great Bulgaria
* Mount Imeon
* Bahlikas
References
Resources
* Fayaz Sharipovich Huzin , BILYAR - BULGARIAN GREAT CITY
Publisher "Zaman" Republic of Tatarstan
. Russian (Хузин Фаяз Шариповичь , Биляр - Великий Город Болгарский
Издательство «Заман» Республика Татарстан
)
External links
* ttp://www.bulgars.ru/english/volga.htm Where the Volga Bulgaria has disappeared?br>50th Anniversary of Bilyar Archaeological Expedition: results and issues of Great Town investigation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilar
History of Tatarstan
Volga Bulgaria
Defunct towns in Russia
Archaeological sites in Tatarstan
Former populated places in Russia
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Tatarstan
Razed cities
Populated places in the Golden Horde