The country the Bulgars founded here was known as Volga {or Volgo-Kama} Bulgaria. The city of Bulgar (nowadays Kazan) was the capital city of Volga Bulgaria. The capital Bulgar profited as a transshipment point in the trade between the fur-selling Ugrians and Russians of the far north and the southern civilizations - Byzantium, the Muslim Caliphate of Baghdad, and Turkistan. Trade from East to West, from Europe to China, further enriched Volga Bulgaria. The largest towns Bulgar and Buljar, in area and population, largely surpassed London, Paris, Kiev, Novgorod and Vladimir at that time. In 922 AD, approximately 8 decades after Khan Boris converted Bulgaria to the Christianity, the Volga Bulgaria, guided by Khan Almush, son of Shilki, accepted Islam as the official state religion. Like with Christianity in Danube Bulgaria, there was more behind it then just a spiritual rapture. Islam was adopted as an official religion in order to receive the political and military support of Baghdad against the enemies of the Bulgarian state. With the conversion to Islam the Arabic alphabet and the Arabic written language slowly replaced the Bulgaria runic written language. The prosperity of Volga Bulgaria was maintained for 600 years.

And then the Mongols came. At that point in history Genghis Khan's troops were seen as invincible by the Europeans. No wonder after what they had done to Russia, and the Europeans were almost right. Almost, because in 1223, the Bulgarian army defeated the Mongols. The Bulgarian king Gabdula Chelbir defeated Ghengis Khan in 1223 nearby Samarskaya Luka, the first defeat of the Mongols ever.

Sadly, in the long run, the fairly small Bulgaria state on the Volga could not stop the advance of the countless Mongol armies. And so in 1236, with 600 000 soldiers, Batu Khan sacked the city of Bulgar. The Bulgarians conquered by the Mongols were drafted into Batu's army as Tatars, meaning - The conquered people. Consequently, in the Russian perception, the Mongolian invasion came to be known as the Tatar conquest. But Batu Khan also knew a good thing when he saw one, and made Bulgar the capitol of his Golden Horde, throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, the Golden Horde minted coins in Bulgar. Bulgar became the most important trade and craft center of the Golden Horde.

The Mongols had different ways of ruling the lands they conquered, some they ruled directly, some not, the Bulgarians enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy, which at times even enabled them to exhibit a certain independence in foreign policy.

The Chuvash and Tatars are of Bulgarian descent. Chuvash is the only living Bulgar language. Tatarstan was called Bulgaristan up until 1922. The main difference between the Chuvash and the Tatars is that the Chuvash are supposedly descendants of those Bulgars who did not accept Islam in 922 where as the Tatars called themselves Muslims, Bulgars and Tatars interchangeably with the moniker Tatar prevailing in the end. The Chuvash are also mixed with Souvar and Finno-Uguric {Magyars} tribes and other peoples of the region. Now Tatar is a bit more complicated as it is both a name for Tribes subjugated by the Mongols {like the Volga Bulgars} as well as the name of an actual Turkic tribe from western China, who were also subjugated by Gengis Khan, suffice it to say today's Tatars are a mix of the two.

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After the breakup of Khan Kubrat's Great Bulgaria, the Bulgarians from the Danube and the Volga never really lost touch with each other. Besides the oral history of uninterrupted contact, the two Bulgaria's even today share many cultural traits. Like the Chuvash holiday of Surkhuri which coincides with Christmas and the Bulgarian Christmas custom of Surva and Surovakane. Some common cultural traits like the Tree Of Life go back as far as the Sarmatians:

Today's links between Bulgars of all kinds are best articulated by The Bulgarian Congress.