Ghazi Baraj Tarihi. Chapter 6. The reign of Bat-Ugyr (882-895)
AT In 882, the son of Erek Salahbi moved to Bashta from Galidzh, and from Bolgar - Alabuga with detachments of Sabans and Badjanaks, who sought to avenge the raid on them by the Kara-Bulgar Modjars led by Lachyn. On the eve of the speech, Kan Gabdulla died, and his son Bat-Ugyr Mumin was raised to the Bulgarian throne, who did not cancel his father's orders. Mulla Mikail then finished his dastan “Shan kyzy dastany” and dedicated it to the new kan…
As soon as Alabuga approached Khorysdan, Almysh came to him from Karadjar with the baryns and the Anchian militia of Jun. The eldest son of Almysh Arbat, who served the Baltavar Lachyn, rushed towards Alabuga with his Bashkorts, but was utterly defeated and took refuge in Batavyl. The Khazars who were in Batavyl prepared to defend the fortress, but the prudent Arbat preferred to open one of the two gates of Khorysdan and go out of them with a confession to his father. Following this, the Anchis of Djun with a terrible massacre burst through this gate into the city and took it. Almysh personally drove up to the Baltavar yurt and threw out his uncle, trembling with fear, like a puppy. Fortunately, he had enough nobility and generosity in order not to execute his father's brother and let him go to Khazaria. Lachyn, weeping from humiliation, left with his two wives for Itil and soon died of shame there, and Almysh left his son from a Bashkorto, Ugyr, with him ...
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Under Lachyn, the Urus Bekstvo was subordinate to him, so Almysh moved to Basht with the intention of forcing As-Khalib to submit to him. At the city, he connected with Salahbi, who had approached a little earlier, and at first agreed with him that he would reign in the city as a tributary of the Baltavar. But then Jun advised them that Salahbi should sit in Bashtu as a co-ruler of Lachyn's son Ugyr, and on reflection, the biys agreed with the Anchi head. Salahbi, showing the Bashtu boyars Bek Ugyr Lachyni, announced to them his desire to sit on the Urus reign as a vizier bek and warned that in case of their opposition, Bulat would be killed and a cruel Bulgar attack was launched. The boyars agreed to conclude an agreement with Salahbi, fearing revenge for the pogrom of Muslims ... . However, As-Khalib refused to obey the decision of the boyars, and then they brought him to Salahbi by force. When he approached him, then suddenly and with a cry: "A cursed slave - you betrayed your master and must die!" - he drew his sword and wanted to cut Salahbi with it. But Jun was on the alert and killed As-Khalib with a spear, which he snatched from an Anchi standing nearby, and Alabuga hacked to death Bulat, who hastened to help his father. The last son of As-Khalib Khot, having learned about the death of his father and brother, secretly fled from Bashtu to the khakan ...
Salahbi entered Bashta together with Jun and Ugyr and, as the first tribute to Almysh, gave the property of Yahud merchants to the Baltavar. Jun, who became the first boyar and the head of all the Anchians - and they called him in Bulgarian "bata" - approximately punished the murderers of his father and the Muslims. Satisfied with the outcome of the case, Almysh returned to Khorysdan, and Alabuga to Bolgar. Here the biy asked Mikail what it would be better to spend his part of the booty on, and on the advice of the mullah, he built a caravanserai with a mosque in the town of Bulyar from wood. And in this place, located on the border of three regions of the Bulgar at once - Bolgar, Bershud and Esegel - their biys usually gathered for negotiations, which is why it was called Bulyar or Bilyar.
But Almysh's joy was short-lived. In 885, the khakan secretly persuaded Arbat to overthrow his father, promising his throne and an end to the war in return. The Kaubuy and Modzhar biys, who withstood the brunt of this war and with discontent accepted the new Baltavar tax on the pagans - jizya, supported Arbat and, at his signal, drove Jafar from Khorysdai to Karadzhar. But even here Almysh did not find peace, for the Arbat moved after him, and the timid Anchi head began to beg the Baltavar to leave the city to prevent an enemy attack. Seeing that this time it would not be possible to sit out in Karajar, Jafar with his ladies went to the faithful Salahbi in Bashtu and was solemnly greeted by him. In the quarter of the city allotted to him, Almysh built his own courtyard, which overshadowed all the others with its luxury. The Bashtuy Bulgars and Anchians still considered him a Baltavar and sued him, and the Balyns and Sadums - from Salahbi ...
In the same year, the son of Chinavyz bey Arslan, who crept up to the Khazar throne under the guise of a friend of the khakan, but in reality was a friend to himself, persuaded the stupid Iskhak to start a war with the Badjanaks in order to leave the Bulgars without their main ally. By order of Aksak-Timer, Arbat with his Modjars and Kaubuians attacked the Badjanak camps, but the Khins, with the help of the Nur-Suvar Bek, the son of Jilka Mardan, overthrew the attackers and devastated Burtas. This victory strengthened Mardan, who took a second name in honor of her - the hero Ar-Bugi, and declared all the lands subordinate to him: Archa, Northern Burtas, Nur-Suvar and Esegel - declared Esegel his kingdom. Biys felt very insecure and rushed between the two rulers. And Arslan, passing this off to the khakan as the success of his policy, obtained from him permission to hire the Oguzes or Turkmens to deliver a decisive blow to the weakened Badjanaks. He himself crossed the Bulgar Sea and in the Mei-Kishlak region hired a detachment of the Kuk-Oguz bek Salar for the Khazar service. And Men-Kishlak was once a flourishing and populous region, and therefore it was nicknamed “Thousand Settlements”, but then the change in the course of the Binedzhe River and the resulting drought gradually nullified its well-being, and by that time the local Turkmens began to starve. However, the Khorasan emirs, to whom they obeyed, as if did not want to see this disaster and continued to collect the old taxes from the thinned people ... It came to the point that only one Turkmen remained in one village. When the visiting officials asked him who was in the village, he answered them: “Meng”. Angry collectors asked him: "Who will pay taxes for everyone?" And the Turkman answered them again: “Maine”. The Bilemchis searched his yurt and, not finding anything, completely lost their temper and cried out: “Who will answer us for non-payment of taxes?” And the Turkmen - again: "Maine". Then the collectors seized him and rode off to Khorasan, but on the way he escaped and angered the people still remaining in the region. These Kuk-Oguzes were called by the Khorasans "Ments", for this word was constantly pronounced by the head of the rebels. And his name was Salar. The founder of his clan was Alyp, who once served Gazan. He went into the possession of his brother and together with him began to fight against the Khorezm Turkmens, who lived more satisfyingly and therefore obeyed the Samanid emirs. Soon the Kypchak tribe Kara-Koenly joined them and also called themselves "Min". Several times they either left Men-Kishlak under pressure from the southern Oghuz-Sarytekens, then returned here, until, finally, Arslan arrived to them. Salar's brother had by then been killed, and all the Manx were subject to him. The brother's wives became his wives, and the children became his children, for such was the Turkmen custom that did not allow them to leave the people of their tribe to the mercy of fate. And the Kuk-Oghuz were the most beautiful tribe of the Turks, and many of them, like the Sindians, were tall, had golden hair and blue eyes. The Manx themselves explained this by the fact that, being easy-going, in ancient times, the first of the Turks followed the Sindians and in the territory of Samar and present-day Rum settled nearby and mixed with them. Then, when the Samara king Alamir-Sultan, called Iskander by the Persians, retreated from these places before the flood to the East, the Manx left with him ...
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On the orders of Arslan, the Mans attacked the Badjanaks and, having cut them off from the Khorezm Sea, united with the Eastern Bashkorts. The Modjars willingly agreed to a war with the Badjanaks, for they had been eyeing their lands for a long time and with greed. In 891, they undertook the first campaign against the Badjanaks together with the modjars of the Arbat, but were repulsed. The success of the Badjanaks was again explained by the help of Marjan. He, having proclaimed himself a Kan, unexpectedly found himself among the tributaries of the Badjanaks. When the prince complained about this to the Badjanak bek Illak, he explained with a kind smile: “Earlier you were not an independent ruler - and I did not take tribute from you. Now you have become a Kan - and I began to take from you, as from others, and - no more. Why are you dissatisfied?" Helping Illak, Marjan hoped that he would get rid of the tribute, but the Badjanaks did not even think of thanking the Kan. Therefore, in 894, when the Manx attacked the Badjanaks again, Marjan, in vexation, did not help them. Illak was utterly defeated. Half of his people in horror submitted to the conquerors, and he himself, with the other half of the Badjanaks, preferred to migrate to the west.
On his way, Illak fiercely smashed all the regions of the Khazars, considering them to be the culprits of his misfortune. The Arbat was not in Kara-Bulgar then, because, by order of Arslan, he fought on the side of Rum against the Burdzhan kingdom. The fact that the Bek sent a Baltavar to help Rum at a time when he was needed on Jaik confirms Abdallah's information about his secret alliance with the Rumian king...
The nomads of the Modjars, left without men, were completely destroyed by the Badjanaks, who did not know pity for their inveterate enemies. After that Kara-Bulgar was seized by real horror. The Kaubuians fled with their families to Khazaria and were placed on the Kuba River, and 5 thousand baryns came to Basht and asked Almysh to escort them to Bulgar. Almysh was burdened by the idle life in Bashtu, and he decided not to miss the last, perhaps, the opportunity to become a ruler - at least in the distant northern Bulgar. Warmly saying goodbye to Salahbi and Jun and promising them support in case of his success, the Baltavar set off with the ladies on the road. Hiding behind the river Seber-su, Jafar passed Karadjar and ... reached the limits of the Murdas tribe. The Murdases owned both banks of the river, which the Kara-Bulgarians called "Aka", the Murdases - "Sain", and the Bulgarians - "Sain-Idel". Having passed along the bank of this river to the city of Kan-Murdas, the Baltavar wanted to go from here immediately to Bolgar, but he became thoughtful, and on reflection preferred to send a messenger first. The Murdases, wishing for the speedy departure of the Bulgars, who were terrible for them, quickly delivered the messenger by ship to the Bolgars. Bat-Ugyr was delighted with the appearance of his elder brother and, having decided to use him against Mardzhan, ordered him to settle in the Dyau-Shir. As soon as the baryns settled here, the Mintsy of the Salar appeared, let through to the Bolgar by Mardzhan. Almysh, without hesitation, rushed towards the Turkmens. Seeing this, Salar, who burst forward, considered it good to step back. The Mints mistook this for the retreat of the bek and rushed to run. Only beyond the Esegel city of Sulcha, Salar managed to stop his retreat and again move towards the Bolgar, but Almysh had already managed to occupy Sulcha before that and from its wall offered a truce to the Mints who had approached. Salar decided not to tempt fate a second time and said to his biys: “You saw that it was not the Bulgars, but Tangra himself who turned us back, thus indicating the limits of our claims. So let's obey him." Everyone agreed with him, and the khan invited Almysh to negotiate. Both rulers behind a tabyn in a field yurt agreed on the marriage of Almysh to the daughter of Salar and the wedding of their unborn children ... In addition, Jafar promised Salar to convince Bat-Ugyr to start paying tribute to the khan in the amount of the former Badjanak, and he - for this - support. On that they parted ...
When the people of Mardzhan approached Sulcha and demanded that Almysh surrender the city to them, Jafar refused and replied: “You should have kept the fortress better. I took it not from you, but from the Turkmens, and therefore I must not hand it over to you! And tell your Kan: if he wants to take Sulcha from me by force, then let him think carefully about the consequences before that! Marjan thought about it - and decided to give in to Sulch, for he was afraid of colliding with two brothers at once ...
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But Almysh failed to persuade Bat-Ugyr - he flatly refused to pay tribute to the Oghuz. Then the Baltavar in 895 invited the biys of Alabuga, Bel-Yumart, Askal, the son of Kush, to Bulyar (where the biys of Bolgar, Bershud and Esegel had long gathered) and directly asked them: “Great biys! Both of us - me and Bat-Ugyr - are the sons of Kan Dzhilki. But Kan Bat-Ugyr refuses to conclude an agreement with the Turkmens and is going to plunge the country into a disastrous war, and I made a blissful peace. So tell me: who do you want to obey? The biys did not hesitate for long and unanimously decided to raise Almysh to the throne.
Directly from Bulyar, they moved towards Bolgar with the intention of ending the matter bloodlessly. But the hot-tempered Bat-Ugyr locked himself in the citadel of the Bolgar, which he built himself and which was called "Mumin". At this critical moment, Mikail Bashto again showed a rare ability to keep people from quarrels and bloodshed. He came to the Kan and said to him: “Oh great Kan! I babysat you as a child, so let me ask you a question. Tell me what is better - to live as a mere mortal among friends or to reign surrounded by enemies? And Mumin, just ready to meet the enemies with a sword, suddenly began to cry and ordered to open the gates of the city ...