History

The ancestors of modern Chuvashes, the Bolgar-Chuvash and Khazar tribes were the first Turks to migrate to the East Europe, Black Sea region, Lower Volga and Caucasus in the beginning of common era. They came as a part of Huns, founded the Great Bolgaria (Вlack Sea, Azov Sea regions and Northern Caucasus, V-VII centuries of C.E.), Suvar kingdom (Northern Caucasus, IV-VII centuries of C.E), Khazar kaganate (Caspian Sea region, Azov Sea region and part of Crimea, V-X centuries of C.E.), Golden Bolgaria (Balkan peninsula, VII century of C.E.) and Volgian Bulgaria (Volga-Kama region, VIII-XIII centuries of C.E.). Chuvash language and culture contain many language and culture antiquities, which help to reveal the historic particularities of ancient Turkic language community. Being the first Turkic tribes, who settled down for agricultural set-up, Chuvash entered into relationships with many ancient civilizations of China, Central Asia and Caucasus (Chinese, Sogdian, Greko-Baktrian, Horezmian, Agvanian and Tokharian), as well as with Bysance and Kiev’s Russia. Chuvash embroidery and dress, being one of the most interesting and beautiful, preserved a lot of ancient elements, are geometrized and pictographic, and contain a whole symbolistic language, linked to agricultural set-up and cosmogonic representations of ancients. Chuvash people were one of the few, who preserved their ancient culture, language and faith, coming from deep antiquity till 20-th century, that is why maintaining and preserving Chuvash culture, which is a relict, is an important task not only for the small Chuvash community, but for all nations.