Bulgar calendar

The Bulgarian calendar was a solar calendar system used by the Bulgarians, who from the 4th century onwards dwelt in the Eurasian steppes north of the Caucasus and around the banks of river Volga. In 681, part of the Bulgarians settled in the Balkan peninsula and established First Bulgarian Empire. The main source of information used for reconstruction of the Bulgarian calendar is a short 15th century transcript in Church Slavonic called Nominalia of the Bulgarian Khans,^[1] which contains 10 pairs of calendar terms. Additionally, the same dating system is used in a marginal note in a manuscript by 10th century monk Tudor Doksov and in the Chatalar Inscription by the 9th-century Bulgaria ruler Omurtag (r. 814–831), who also provides the Byzantine imperial dating equivalent (the indiction). According to the reconstructed calendar, the Bulgars used a 12-year cyclic calendar similar to the one adopted by Turkic peoples from the Chinese calendar, with names and numbers that are deciphered as in Bulgar language.^[2] The reading, along with the "cyclic calendar" interpretation itself, was originally proposed by Finnish Slavist Jooseppi Julius Mikkola in 1913. Later, there have been various modifications and elaborations during the 20th century by scholars such as Géza Fehér, Omeljan Pritsak, Mosko Moskov and other scientists.^[3]

Reconstructions vary slightly because some of the names are unattested, and the exact form of a few is debatable. The following list is based on Mosko Moskov's and description of the average mainstream interpretation, as well as his own reconstruction, and takes into account the existing disagreements:^[4]

Years:

Number	Animal	In Bulgar
1	Mouse	Somor
2	Ox	Shegor
3	Uncertain, probably Tiger / Wolf	Ver?
4	Rabbit	Dvan[sh]
5	Uncertain, probably Dragon	Ver[eni]?
6	Snake	Dilom
7	Horse	Imen[shegor]?
8	Ram	Teku[chitem]?
9	Unattested, probably Monkey	—
10	Hen or Rooster	Toh
11	Dog	Eth
12	Boar	Dohs

Comparison with Turkic calendars

The following comparison table was made based on Omeljan Pritsak's analysis.^[5]

Year	Bulgar	Old Turkic (7 – 8 century)	Uighur (13 – 17 century)	Turkmen	Bashkir	Kazakh	Khakaski	Teleut
Mouse	Somor, (čomor) [6]		küskü	сычқан	сысҡан	тышқан	кÿске	қойон „Rabbit“
Ox	Shegor, σιγορ [7]		ud	сығыр	һыйыр „крава“	сиыр	інек	улу „Dragon“
Uncertain, probably Tiger / Wolf	Ver/Vereni, Vereni [8]	bars (Turkic)	bars (Turkic)	барс, пәләң (Turkic)	барыс	барыс	тÿлгÿ „Fox“	йылан „Snake“
Rabbit	Dvan (davlan) [9]	tabïšɣan	tavïšɣan	таушқан	ҡуян	қоян	хозан	ат „Horse“
Dragon		lüi/lü (Chinese)	luu (Chinese)	лу балық	луу	лув	килескі „Lizard“	қой „Ram“
Snake	Dilom (čilom)[10]	yïlan	yïlan	йылан	илан	жылан	чылан	мечин „Monkey“
Horse	Ima[11] (Imen)		yunt, yund	йылқы	илҡы	жылқы	чылғы	ит „Dog“
Ram	Teku, Teke [12]	qony	qoin	қой	ҡой	қой	хой	қақай „Boar“ (Mongolian)
Monkey		bičin	bičin	биҗин	мишин	маймыл, мешін	кіжі „Human/Man“	чычқан „Mouse“
Rooster	Toh (čux) [13]	takïɣu	takïɣu	тауқ	тауыҡ	тауық	таңах	тақаа „Rooster“ (Mongolian)
Dog	Eth [14]	it	it	ит	эт	ит	турна „Crane“	инек „Cow“
Boar	Dohs (čočka) [15]	laɣzïn (?)	toŋuz	тоңуз	доңгыз	қара кейік	öскі „Ram“	пар „Tiger“