We know about the political strife of Bulgaria, although not very much, from the note of the Arabic envoy Ibn Fotslan, sent to the Bulgarian Tsar Almus, entrusted to the Caliph Muktedir in 921-922. Power in Volgarzi was inherited from childhood, and the throne passed from father to son'). The tsar enjoyed the same honors as his former rulers. No one can stand before him. Whenever he left the courtyard, then in the wind they stood up with him, took off their hats from their heads and took them under their armpits, remaining uncovered until the king froze. Entering the palace, even the king’s children and brothers uncovered their heads, fell on their faces, then rose up and sat on the poles?). On solemn occasions, when, for example, the reception of especially important ambassadors took place, the king sat on a throne covered with Greek brocade; next to him, pomfshalava’ his wife; His children sat in front of him on separate pomfches; on the right side of the throne were occupied by the kings and nobles of the Bulgarian land. In such cases, the ambassadors were treated to food. The king was brought a separate table with fried meat on it. He took a knife, cut off the cup and safdal; then, having collected several pieces, he would tear off one and serve it to the guest of honor or one of the nobles present 0600. Having met the one who received the piece of meat, he brought it so much. In this distribution of food, apparently, the order of the elders and the nobles was observed according to the degree of their importance, and the first place was considered to be the one closest to the king's throne. Everyone took the remaining food home with them. At the end of the table, by order of the king, honey was served, which everyone present drank 3). As you can see, the Bulgarian kingdom lasted into several parts, in which either the native kings or the king’s namphotniks stood. They played an important role and, perhaps, somewhat limited the power of the Bulgarian ruler. So Almus postponed reading the caliph’s letter until the kings of his land and nobles had died;
[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]
[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]
at the conclusion of peace, they also took an oath. We do not know how the Bulgarian government received income. According to the Arabs, the Bulgarian king received ox skins and horses from each courtyard as a tax. The one who entered into marriage was supposed to give the king a riding horse. Because the merchant ships that arrived at the harbor of the city of Bulgar took a duty in the form of a tithe from the goods. The king also received spoils after the campaign'). That's all we can say about the political structure of the Bulgarian state. There is much more data from Zeteya Us for an outline of the trade and industry of the Bulgarian people.
Long before the formation of the Bulgarian state, the population of the regions along the middle reaches |. Volga, Kama and Dalva in the north of Russia had a significantly developed culture and rather distant trade relations?). The Bulgarian kingdom, which was formed in the very center of the Volga region, was to develop industrial and trade relations, having developed and expanded in these regions much earlier.
Most of the space occupied by the Bulgarian kingdom is covered with a thin layer of black soil, which provides invaluable benefits for the land; meadow side of the Volga and that's it
1) Pu4esh, r. 568, 534 and 515. Izveze Ibn-Dast (Khvolzon, p. 24). Trinity painting from 1230 by Karamzin. (Quote from Shlilevsky “Ancient Cities”, p. 156). Our chronicle knows the silver Bulgarians and chelmals (Inalt. chronicle, ed. 1871, p. 423). According to the explanation of Shtilevsky, the Silver Bulgarians immiliated the city of Byular, which stood on the river. Serebryank$,: a, Chekhmata==Bulgarians came to the camp, because Kama is on the Tatars. the language is called Chekhman or Chulman (Ancient Cities, pp. 138 and 144).