24 CHAPTER 1
early Turkic khagans: Bumin, Istemi, Muqan, Taspar and Nevar, are not Turkic
in origin either.26 The strong Iranian influence among the Turks of Ashina
enables V. Stoianov to pose the question: “what if the Turk(yut)s represented
a type of Turkicized Iranians or what if they, being Turks in the present-day
meaning of the word, absorbed Iranian elements as well?”27 This also prompts
P. Golden to consider as quite possible that “religious and attendant concepts
of royal ideology came to the Turkic peoples [.. .] from Iranian or even earlier
Indo-Iranian contacts”.28 Or, put another way, “the allegedly mixed Saka-Altaic
or possibly Wusun-Altaic origin of the Turks is reflected in their lifestyle, reli-
gion, social structure, preserved terminology and even their appearance”.29
In their study of the origin of the Bulgars, scholars usually emphasize the
presence of Iranian, Turkic and Ugrian traits among them. Thus, D. Ovcharov
accepts that “the most promising appears to be the view, according to which
the Proto-Bulgarians have the closest proximity to the eastern branch of the
Wusuns (Alans and Ases), which can be traced back to the earliest times in the
regions of Central Asia. Even then, however, this community actively included
also Turkic elements, and later on, it was significantly influenced by the cul-
ture of the Chinese, Indians and Eastern Iranians. Only thus can the diverse
(and to some researchers—even unexpected) manifestations in Bulgar culture
from later times be explained. Ultimately, the undeniable fact remains that the
Proto-Bulgarians came to the Balkan Peninsula highly Turkicized, which can
hardly be refuted”.30
The definition “highly Turkicized” is without content. It should be borne in
mind that “the alleged Turkicization processes in Early Medieval Bulgar cul-
ture cannot be illustrated with specific archaeological evidence and thus exist
in historiography only in the form of an a priori assumption”.31 The theories on
the origin of the Bulgars are mostly hypothetical. The mixing of Iranian and
Turkic traits is not surprising, but does not in any way distinguish the Bulgars
from the other steppe peoples. While it is possible that various toponyms
and ethnic names (especially the highly popular Pu-Ku following the works
the titles of khagan, tegin and tudun. The tarkhan title, according to him, is probably also
of Chinese origin, but he does not rule out an Iranian etymology. The boila, erkin, chor and
baghatur titles remain of unknown origin to him.
26 Golden 2006, 21.
27 Stoianov 2006a, 79.
28 Golden 2006, 18–19. According to Minaeva 1991, 24, a typological similarity between the
Indo-Iranian and the Turkic mythical circle can also be traced.
29 Stoianov2004a, 43.
30 Ovcharov 2002, 7–8.
31 Vladimirov 2005, 42.