A volgai út jelentősége a volgai bulgárok történetében

Abstract

The first part of the paper focuses on the different names of the Volga Bulghars in the Russian, Muslim and western sources such as the Russian volzskie Bolgary 'Volga Bulghars' Volozskia i Kamskia Bolgary 'Volga and Kama Bulghars'; serebrennye bulgar' 'Silver Bulghars'; Bolgary, glagolemii Kazanci 'Bulghars called the inhabitants of Kazan'; Bolgary Nizovskie 'Lower Bulghars'; Muslim sources: bulgar al-ac zam 'Great Bulghar' bulgar al-harig 'Outer Bulghar' bulgar al-dahil 'Inner Bulghar'; Latin sources : Magna Bulgaria. In the second section of the paper the historical role of the Volga route is analysed on the basis of the written sources. The formation of the Volga Bulghar state is closely connected with the decline of the trade route along the lower Volga, but after the collapse of the Khazar empire in 965 till the Mongol conquest in 1236 the lower Volga was controlled by the Muslim merchants of the Volga Bulghars. It is corroborated by the data of three Muslim authors (Mahmud al-Kasgari; Ibn al-Atlr). The control over norhtern section of the Volga trade provoked the conflict between the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and the Volga Bulghar state, which led frequent raids against each other in the second half of the 12th first decades of the 13th centuries. The importance of the Volga is not only reflected in the names of the Volga Bulghars, but their history was in close connection with the trade along the Volga.