Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| late 9th century–1240s | |||||||||
| Status | Vassals of the Khazars (late 9th century-969) | ||||||||
| Capital | Bolghar Bilär | ||||||||
| Common languages | Bulgar | ||||||||
| Religion | Tengrism, later Sunni Islam (after Almish Iltäbär) | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Ruler | |||||||||
• 9th century | Şilki | ||||||||
• 10th century | Almış, Ahmad, Mikaʾil, Abdallah, Talib, Muʾmin I, Muʾmin II, Shamgun | ||||||||
• 11th-13th centuries | Khaidar, Mukhammad, Saʾid, Baradz, Ibrahim, Otyak, Ghabdula Chelbir, Ilham Khan | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Established | late 9th century | ||||||||
• Conversion to Islam | 922 | ||||||||
| 1240s | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Russia | ||||||||
Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria (sometimes referred to as the Volga Bulgar Emirate) was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th 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 with large numbers of Bulgars, Finno-Ugrians, Varangians, and East Slavs. Its strategic position allowed it to create a local trade monopoly with Norse, Cumans, and Pannonian Avars.