Bulgar calendar

The Bulgar calendar was a solar calendar

system used by the Bulgars, originally
from Central Asia, who from the 4th
century onwards dwelt in the Eurasian
steppes north of the Caucasus and around
the banks of river Volga. In 681, part of the
Bulgars settled in the Balkan peninsula
and established First Bulgarian Empire.
The main source of information used for
reconstruction of the Bulgar calendar is a
short 15th century transcript in Church
Slavonic called Nominalia of the Bulgarian
Khans,[1] which contains 10 pairs of
calendar terms. Additionally, the same
dating system is used in a marginal note in
a manuscript by 10th century monk Tudor
Doksov and in the Chatalar Inscription by
the 9th-century Bulgaria ruler Omurtag (r.
814-831), who also provides the Byzantine
imperial dating equivalent (the indiction).
According to the reconstructed calendar,
the Bulgars used a 12-year cyclic calendar
similar to the one adopted by Turkic
peoples from the Chinese calendar, with
names and numbers that are deciphered
as in Bulgar language.[2] The reading,
along with the "cyclic calendar"
interpretation itself, was originally
proposed by Finnish Slavist Jooseppi
Julius Mikkola in 1913. Later, there have
been various modifications and
elaborations during the 20th century by
scholars such as Géza Fehér, Omeljan
Pritsak, Mosko Moskov and other
scientists.[3]

Reconstructions vary slightly, because

some of the names are unattested, and
the exact form of a few is debatable. The
following list is based on Mosko Moskov's
and description of the average
mainstream interpretation, as well as his
own reconstruction, and takes into
account the existing disagreements:[4]

Years:

Number Animal In Bulgar

1 Mouse Somor

2 Ox Shegor

3 Uncertain, probably Tiger / Wolf Ver?

4 Rabbit Dvan[sh]

5 Uncertain, probably Dragon Ver[eni]?

6 Snake Dilom

7 Horse Imen[shegor]?

8 Ram Teku[chitem]?

9 Unattested, probably Monkey —

10 Hen or Rooster Toh

11 Dog Eth

12 Boar Dohs
Comparison with Turkic
calendars

The following comparison table was made

based on Omeljan Pritsak's analysis.[5]
 Old Uighur
Turkic (13 –
Year Bulgar Turkmen Bashkir Kazakh Khakaski Teleut
(7 – 8 17
century) century)

Somor, қойон
Mouse küskü сычқан сысҡан тышқан кÿске
(čomor) [6] „Rabbit“

Shegor, һыйыр улу

Ox ud сығыр сиыр інек
σιγορ [7] „крава“ „Dragon“

Uncertain,
барс,
probably Ver/Vereni, bars bars тÿлгÿ йылан
[8]
пәләң барыс барыс
Tiger / Vereni (перс.) (перс.) „Fox“ „Snake“
(перс.)
Wolf

Dvan ат
Rabbit tabïšɣan tavïšɣan таушқан ҡуян қоян хозан
(davlan) [9] „Horse“

lüi/lü luu лу килескі қой

Dragon луу лув
(кит.) (кит.) балық „Lizard“ „Ram“

Dilom мечин
Snake yïlan yïlan йылан илан жылан чылан
(čilom)[10] „Monkey“

Ima[11] yunt, ит
Horse йылқы илҡы жылқы чылғы
(Imen) yund „Dog“

Teku, қақай
Ram qony qoin қой ҡой қой хой „Boar“
Teke [12]
(mong.)

маймыл, кіжі чычқан

Monkey bičin bičin биҗин мишин
мешін „Human/Man“ „Mouse“

тақаа
Toh (čux)
Rooster [13]
takïɣu takïɣu тауқ тауыҡ тауық таңах „Rooster“
(mong.)

турна инек
Dog Eth [14] it it ит эт ит
„Crane“ „Cow“

Dohs laɣzïn қара öскі пар

Boar toŋuz тоңуз доңгыз
(čočka) [15] (?) кейік „Ram“ „Tiger“
References and notes

1. "dtrif/abv: Name list of Bulgarian hans" (htt

ps://web.archive.org/web/2012020420574
8/http://theo.inrne.bas.bg/~dtrif/abv/imeni
k_e.htm) . theo.inrne.bas.bg. Archived from
the original (http://theo.inrne.bas.bg/~dtrif/
abv/imenik_e.htm) on 2012-02-04.
Retrieved 2009-04-15.

2. Образуване на българската държава.

проф. Петър Петров (Издателство Наука
и изкуство, София, 1981) стр. 171. (http://
www.kroraina.com/knigi/pp2/pp_1_2_4.ht
m)
3. Zlatarski, Vasil. 1918. Istoriya na
balgarskata darzhava prez srednite vekove.
Balgarsko letobroene (in Bulgarian) (http://
www.promacedonia.org/vz1a/vz1a_prit_01.
html) .

4. Именник на българските ханове – ново

тълкуване. М.Москов. С. 1988 г. § 80,70

5. Die bulgarische Fürstenliste und die

Sprache der Protobulgaren. Otto
Harrassowitz-Wiesbaden, 1955.

6. Corresponds to tat. "jomran" "settled" from

the Turkic root "jomra" -

7. Съответства на турската дума sığır

„говедо“.
 8. According to Pritsak (cit. lit.) it corresponds
to Proto-Turkic. börü 'wolf', taken in mar.
"puree", sensed. "biræg". But comparing the
name of the year from the teleutic cycle
circle, we see that "vereni" may be the tabu
name for "dragon" = "rope" and be
compared with chuv. "faithful", Old Turkic.
örgen 'rope'.(Мудрак, цит. лит.)

9. Proto Bulgar. davlan Corresponds to the

Lambdaism rule of Old Turkic. tabïšɣan.

10. Corresponds to hearing. çĕlĕn, Old Turkic.

yïlan "snake".
11. According to Pritsak (cit. lit.) this word is
borrowed in mar. imne 'horse', deriving
them from Old Turkic. emlik at - "unridden
horse, colt", but later took on the meaning
of "horse". Mar. "imne" is probably
borrowed from Hmong. – see Fassmer (cit.
lit.) under "imnyushka". See Beshevliev for
the opinion that "ima" is Old Bulgarian. adj.
place for a binary number.

12. Corresponds to hearing. "so" "ram", Old

Turkic. teke "goat".

13. Corresponds to hearing. čăhă, Old Turkic.

takïɣu hen < diakïɣu. Employed in ung. tyúk.

14. Corresponds to hearing. yită, Old Turkic. it

"dog".

15. Corresponds to tat. "chucka" "pig".

External links

Pritsak, O. Die bulgarische Fürstenliste

und die Sprache der Protobulgaren. Otto
Harrassowitz-Wiesbaden, 1955. (http://
www.kroraina.com/bulgar/pritsak_bf/ga
l/index.html)
Computer Model of the Bulgarian
Calendar and comparison with the
Gregorian Calendar (http://bgkalendar.c
om/?lang=en)
Bulgarian Sun-Jupiter calendar (http://b
alkan1.blog.bg/politika/2011/01/28/bul
garian-sun-jupiter-calendar.675596)
 Article on Bulgarian calendar (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20080617171305/htt
p://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria/Emission
_English/Theme_History_And_Religion/
Material/calendar.htm)
Book about Old Bulgarians (http://memb
ers.tripod.com/~Groznijat/pb_lang/inde
x.html)
Ednazhden (http://mandara.narod.ru/ed
nazhden_22.htm)
peripetiite na kalendara (http://www.eur
o2001.net/issues/3_1997/7BR97F11.ht
m)

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