history of bulgaria - Bulgars
The Bulgars arrived in the Balkans in the 7th century from central Asia, a Central Asian Iranian or Hurrian-Mitanni people, merged with the local romanized and hellenized Thracians and Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state.

The Bulgars were governed by hereditary khans. There were several aristocratic families whose members, bearing military titles, formed a governing class. Bulgars were monotheistic, worshipping their supreme deity Tangra.

The migration of Bulgars to the European continent started as early as the 2nd century when branches of Bulgars settled on the plains between the Caspian and the Black Sea. Between 351 and 389, some of these crossed the Caucasus and settled in Armenia. They were eventually assimilated by the Armenians.

Swept by the Hun wave at the beginning of the 4th century, other numerous Bulgarian tribes broke loose from their settlements in central Asia to migrate to the fertile lands along the lower valleys of the Donets and the Don rivers and the Azov seashore. Some of these remained for centuries in their new settlements, whereas others moved on with the Huns towards Central Europe, settling in Pannonia.

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