bulgar

Bulgar refers to a member of the Bulgar people, a semi-nomadic group of the early medieval Eurasian steppe whose existence and identity played a central role in the ethnogenesis of the Bulgarian nation. The Bulgars are generally thought to have originated on the steppe, with Turkic linguistic ties suggested by some scholars, though their ethnicity was diverse and their political formations included various groups.

In the 7th century, factions of Bulgars moved into the Balkans, where leaders such as Asparuh established the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 after uniting with local Slavic populations. The state expanded across parts of what are now Bulgaria, southeastern Romania, and the western Balkans. Its early capitals were Pliska and later Preslav, reflecting the development of a centralized medieval state.

Ethnogenesis in the Balkans involved both Bulgar aristocracy and Slavic-speaking peasants, leading to a new Bulgarian identity. The ruling class may have used a Turkic or Bulgar language, but Old Church Slavonic became the liturgical and literary language, and the Bulgarian language emerged as a South Slavic tongue. In 864, Boris I Christianized the empire, aligning it with Byzantium and establishing autocephaly for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The First Bulgarian Empire persisted until its decline under Byzantine pressure, with formal end in 1018. A Second Bulgarian Empire rose in 1185 and endured until the Ottoman conquest in 1396. Today the term Bulgar is chiefly used in historical contexts; modern citizens are identified as Bulgarians, who speak Bulgarian. The legacy of the Bulgars is tied to the formation of medieval Bulgarian statehood, its Christianization, and its enduring cultural influence in the region.