Gagin I.A. Monuments of Old Russian historical writing on the interactions between North-Eastern Rus and Volga Bulgaria

Abstract: The subject of this study is the presence of Volga Bulgarian history in Russian historical writing. At the beginning of the article the main features of Russian historical writing are given, as they are the main sources on the history of Russian principalities and of certain territories. Russian chronicles are of the utmost significance in the study of the history of Volga Bulgaria, as Bulgarian written sources as such have not been preserved. The Arab geographic and historical literature is of less significance because it tends to repeat the same information over and over during the course of several centuries. An exception to this are the notes of ibn-Fadlan, of al-Garnati, and of al-Umari. Special attention is devoted to the chronicles’ mention of Alexander the Great as the builder of Bulgarian cities, which is undoubtedly a remnant trace of ancient Bulgarian stories and legends. A comprehensive study of this question is carried out. The historical-genetic research method is applied to this work, which is one of the foremost methods of understanding and studying history. At the base of this method lie predominantly descriptive technologies. The focal aim of this method consists in explaining facts, exposing the reasons for their appearance, the particularities of their development and their consequences. The author’s main conclusion is that the interaction of Volga Bulgaria with the principalities of North-Eastern Rus was much closer and more mutually beneficial than it is noted in the scrupulous and condensed remarks of 15–16th century chroniclers, who used earlier chronicles for their description of the already existing realities of the period. The novelty of this research lies in the fact that the given aspect of this question is still practically unstudied in Russian and foreign historiography.

Keywords: