Stepanov, Tsvetelin Yordanov, State-formation in Danubian Bulgaria, AD 681–865: Religious dimensions

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Title of the article Stepanov, Tsvetelin Yordanov
Authors State-formation in Danubian Bulgaria, AD 681–865: Religious dimensions
In the section Commentarii / Articles
Year 2013 Issue 1 Pages 5-32
Type of article RAR Index UDK   Index BBK  
Abstract The purpose of this article is first to present the main hypotheses about the Bulgars /Bulgar religion in modern Bulgarian historiography before the baptism in the Proto-Bulgarians in 864/5. Second, make an attempt to link the processes of centralization of Bulgaria to thedevelopment of religious cults. Over the past 20–25 years, there were three main hypothesesabout the nature of the Bulgar religious system: a) Tengriism; b) Zoroastrianism; c) Mithraism;in parallel with the recognition of the fact of the existence of a certain number of subjects to theBulgar khan who practiced Christianity. The author notes that the traditional hypothesis calls theBulgarian religion the Tengrism, but at the same time emphasizes the well-known fact that thishypothesis was based on a single stone inscription in Madara, greatly damaged and fragmentedbesides, on which the word TAGGRA (sic) was read. The author considers that a major weaknessof the Zoroastrian hypothesis is the fact that in none of the native or foreign sources the Bulgarare mentioned as the followers of Zoroastrianism, though their temples (to this date six suchtemples were found on the territory of modern Bulgaria) definitely follow the planning conceptsof so-called Iranian fire temples. As to the third hypothesis, the author proposes to define it bythe term «Indo-Iranian» and not «Mithraic». An existence of a possibility is allowed that at thebeginning of the 9thcentury, when the processes of centralization and «modernization» of the pre-Christian Bulgaria were just being born, the cults of fire, sun and water which were which wasamongst the most important in the ancient Iranian and Indo-Iranian religious systems, producedan architectural visualization in the form of the construction of the temples of fire (squareshaped or rectangular) in the main centers of pagan Bulgaria, such as Pliska, Preslav, Madaraand Silistra — which were the main residences of the Bulgar Khans. Also, one cannot rule outthe possibility of perception of the popular cult of the «steppe empire» to Tengri, the bright sky,as the cult of the Bulgar «Männerbunde». Whatever the truth of the religious system of the Bulgaron the Danube is, it is very clear today that, on a theoretical level, it can be represented by theconcept of «supremotheism».
Keywords Bulgars, paganism, supremotheism, Zoroastrianism, Tengrism, Mithraism
Full text version of the article Article language Russian
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Tags: Bulgars, paganism, supremotheism, Zoroastrianism, Tengrism, Mithraism