Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/568

 546 APPENDIX death approached he enjoined upon them not to separate. But they did not obey his command. The first, Batbaian, remained in his native laud, according to his father's will ; the second, Kotrag. crossed the Don and dwelled over against his brother ; the third, Isperich, settled in Bessarabia ; * the fourth migrated to Pannouia ; the fifth to Itah'. This story had been written down in some Greek book in the course of the eighth century ; for Theophanes and Nicephorua derived it independently from the same written source.* y It is easy to separate the fact from the fiction. Both Kurt and Isperich are historical ; Isperich may well have been Kiu"t's sou (for only one short reign intervened between them) ; and their chronological relation corresponds to fact. Moreover the westward migration to Paimonia and Italy probably happened after Kurt's death, about the middle of the 7th century. The legendary parts of the tale are : (1) the five sons of Kurt aud his deathbed commands ; (2) the re- presentation of the eponymous Kotragos as a son of Kurt, and the belief that the people of Kotragos branched off from the Bulgarians in the 7th century; (3) the clirouological error of making the Bulgarians first come to the regions between the Dniester and the Danube under Isperich in the 7th century ; and thus repre- senting Kurt as a king reigning over Bulgarians east of the Dnieper. Roesler, Hunfalvy and others have sustained that the Bulgarians were not of Turkish, but of Finnish race. But they have not proved their case.'' For the customs of the Danubian Bulgarians, which point to their Tartar origin, see the Responses of Pope Nicholas (in the ninth century) to the matters on which they consulted him.* 9. LIST OF ANCIENT BULGARIAN PRINCES— (P. 133) A curious fragment of an old list of Bulgarian princes from the earliest times up to A.r>. 765, was edited by A. Popov in 1866 (Obzor Chronographov russkoi redaktsii). It is reproduced by JireSek (Geschichte der Bulgaren, p. 127). The list is drawn up in the language of the Slavs of Bulgaria, but contains non- Slavonic words, belonging to the tongue of the Bulgarian conquerors. It may be translated as follows, with the exception of the Bulgarian words : — [a.d. 124-424.] " Avitochol lived 300 years ; he belonged to the race of Dulo ; and his years were dilovi tvirem. [a.d. 424-574.] "Irnik lived 100 years and 50 ; he belonged ,to the race of Dulo ; and his years were dilom tvirem. [a.d. 574-576.] "Gostun ruled as viceroy for 2 years ; he belonged to the race of .Jermi ; and his years were docks tvirem. [a.d. 576-636.] "Kur't reigned for 60 3- ears ; he was of the race of Dulo ; but his years were segor vecem. [a.d. 636-639.] " Bezmer 3 years ; he was of the race of Dulo ; but his years were },egor vecem. "These 5 princes (k'n§z) held the principality on the other side of the Danube for 515 j'ears, with shorn heads. [a.d. 679.] " And then Isperich, prince, came to (this) side of the Danube, where (they are) till this day. [a.d. 639-700.] '' Esperich, prince, 61 years ; he was of the race of Dulo ; his years were verenialem. ['Affxapovx- ] [a.d. 700-720.] " Tervel 21 years ; he was of the race of Dulo ; his years were tekucetem tvirem. [T6p/3eA.7)s.] [a.d. 720-748.] " . . .1 28 j'ears ; he was of the race of Dulo ; his years were dvar^echtem. 5 Onglos or Ogles (in Theophanes and Nicephorus), the comer between the Danube and the Dniester. 6 Theoph. ad ann. 6171 ; Nicephorus, p. 33-4. ' For the Turkish side see Vambi^ry, A magyarok eredete, cap. iv. p. 48 sqq, 8 They will be found in any collection of Acta Conciliorum, e.g., in Mansi, vol. iv. 1 Posiibly the preceding tvirem conceals the name of the successor of Tervel