Bolghar ( tt-Cyrl, Болгар, cv, Пăлхар) was intermittently the capital of

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 ...

from the 8th to the 15th centuries, along with Bilyar and Nur-Suvar. It was situated on the bank of the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

, about 30 km downstream from its confluence with the

Kama River The Kama (russian: Ка́ма, ; tt-Cyrl, Чулман, ''Çulman''; udm, Кам) is a long«Река � ...

and some 130 km from modern

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...

in what is now

Spassky District Spassky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia. The name is generally derived from or related to the root "''spas''" (" savior")—usually alluding to the concept of the Christian faith. *Spassky Distri ...

. West of it lies a small modern town, since 1991 known as Bolgar. The

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

World Heritage Committee inscribed Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex (ancient Bolghar

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post- ...

) to the

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 2014.

History

The city is supposed to have been the capital of

from as early as the 8th century. Regular Russian incursions along the Volga, and internecine fights, forced the Volga

Bulgar Bulgar may refer to: *Bulgars, extinct people of Central Asia *Bulgar language, the extinct language of the Bulgars *Oghur languages Bulgar may also refer to: *Bolghar, the capital city of Volga Bulgaria *Bulgur, a wheat product *Bulgar, an Ashke ...

kings (khagans) to intermittently move their capital to Bilyar. After a destruction of Bilyar during the Mongol invasion, the older capital became a centre of a separate province (or duchy) within the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragment ...

. During the period of Mongol domination Bolgar acquired immense wealth and many imposing buildings and grew tenfold in size. The

Tokhtamysh–Timur war The Tokhtamysh–Timur war was fought from 1386 to 1395 between Tokhtamysh, khan of the Golden Horde, and the warlord and conqueror Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire, in the areas of the Caucasus mountains, Turkistan and Eastern Europe. Th ...

saw a marked decline in its fortunes. It was sacked by Bulaq-Temir in 1361 and endangered by

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

. As a Muslim religious center Bolgar persevered until the mid-16th century when the

Khanate of Kazan The Khanate of Kazan ( tt, Казан ханлыгы, Kazan xanlıgı; russian: Казанское ханство, Kazanskoye khanstvo) was a medieval Tatar Turkic state that occupied the territory of former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 155 ...

was conquered by the Russian Tsar Ivan IV and incorporated into the Russian state. During Tsarist rule the site of the ancient town was settled by Russian commoners. Tsar

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

issued a special

ukase In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader (patriarch) that had the force of law. "Edict" and "decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concepts ...

to preserve the surviving ruins, which was the first Russian law aimed at preserving historical heritage.

Little pilgrimage

During the Soviet period, Bolgar was a center of a local Islamic movement known as ''The Little Hajj''; Muslims from Tatarstan and other parts of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

could not participate in the hajj to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow val ...

, so they travelled instead to Bolgar.

Monuments and temples

File:Eastern mausoleum, Bolgar.JPG, Eastern mausoleum File:Khans' mausoleum, Bolgar.JPG, Khans' mausoleum File:Northern mausoleum, Bolgar.JPG, Northern mausoleum File:Black chamber, Bolgar.JPG, Black Chamber File:Белая палата.JPG, White Chamber File:Булгарское городище 6.JPG, Big manara File:Keçe manara.JPG, Small manara File:Bolgar mosque.jpeg, New Bolghar cathedral White Mosque

Importance

The Tatars refer to the medieval capital of Volga Bolgaria as ''Shahri Bolghar'' ( tt-Cyrl, Шәһри Болгар), that is Persian for "the City of Bolghar". The town is part of their cultural heritage, because Volga Bulgaria is the predecessor state of the

, which in turn is in a way the predecessor of today's Russian republic of

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

. Today, the capital of Tatarstan is

, but many Tatars consider Bolghar to be their ancient and religious capital and to allow a glimpse of Muslim Bulgar life before the Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria.

References

*Edward Tracy Turnerelli, Kazan, the Ancient Capital of the Tartar Khans, 1854, pp 196-261

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places on the Volga Defunct towns in Russia Islam in Russia Archaeological sites in Tatarstan Volga Bulgaria Former populated places in Russia World Heritage Sites in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Tatarstan bg:Болгар (град)