The glory and supremacy of Simeon's reign

The glory and supremacy of Simeon’s reign,

unfortunately, did not last. Internal struggles had begun, owing to the

jealousies of some of the nobles and their spirit of adventure. The boyars, the

knights and dignitaries of Bulgaria, had always had great authority. In the

reign of Boris II. (A.D. 963), a boyar named Shishman Mokar raised a party and

took possession of the whole of Western Bulgaria, turning it into a separate

kingdom. Boris was overwhelmed by fresh misfortunes. The Russians invaded

Bulgaria, and Boris called in the help of the Emperor, John Zemissius, who took

advantage of the situation to gain possession of the kingdom. Fortunately, the

successor of Shishman, Tsar Samuel, whose reign was as brilliant as that of

Simeon, succeeded in reuniting the kingdom of Bulgaria, with Prespa as capital.

A long and unlucky war with Byzantium

In 1015 Bulgaria, after a long and unlucky war with Byzantium, was brought to subjection. A new state of things began for the Bulgarians, who till then had never felt the control of an enemy. The people longed for liberty, and there were many attempts at revolt. Towards 1186, two brothers, John and Peter Assen, raised a revolt and succeeded in reestablishing the ancient kingdom, choosing as capital Timova, their native town. It was then that Timova became what it still remains, the historic town of Bulgaria. The reign of John and Peter Assen was a brilliant time for Bulgaria Art and literature flourished as never before, and commerce developed to a considerable extent. Once more the Bulgarian empire was respected and feared abroad.

This lasted as long as the dynasty founded by John and Peter Assen continued to reign. Unfortunately, this dynasty died out in 1257, and Bulgaria fell into the hands of usurpers. Once more it was divided, and different chiefs, among them Roman, George Terter and Michael Shishman, tried in turn to found dynasties and protect the country. They all tailed. On the one side the Servians, on the other the Magyars, and afterwards the Turks, who were already settled in the south of the peninsula, cast greedy eyes on Bulgaria. At last, as a result of the famous and fatal battle of Kossovo (A,D. 1393), Bulgaria lost her political independence and became a simple Ottoman province.

I am from the generation that witnessed

communism. I had my good moments, I had my fears but I love Bulgaria the most.

Many interesting things can be learnt and seen on a communist Bulgaria tour.

Definitely, this is something to be experienced – a tour in an ex-communist

country.

Soon afterwards she lost the independence

of her autonomous Church, and in spiritual matters became a slave of the

Phanar. All the other Christian peoples of the peninsula were in their turn

subjected by the Turks.

Eurobond All Fonds

Government Bonds Less Interest

When it comes to government bonds, on the other hand, the returns are less interesting. Mathias Bauer, head of Raiffeisen Capital Management: “Government bonds have long been classified as a safe haven for investment, but corporate papers are now preferable on risk grounds.” This is why Austria’s money experts in general are advising investors to alter their strategies.

Franz Witt-Dorring, Head of UBS Austria: “Investors should not commit to any government bonds with a term longer than seven years, since such papers could come under pressure in the next 12 to 24 months.” Erste Bank expert Hollinger went on: “Investors should be reducing the average remaining term of their fixed-interest bonds held in security deposits. They should also consider shifting their fixed-interest securities into floaters.”

Private Banking Manager Ohswald: “Share funds which actively hedge the interest rate risk offer good opportunities. Investors should avoid funds which only display one index, however.”

This is why Ohswald is currently recommending that his well-heeled private banking clients invest in such items as the broadly-spread R2 Eurobond All Fonds, or the corporate share fund Euro Corporate Fonds. Vontobel Head Landesmann also finds corporate bonds a good way for aspiring investors to mix their money: “Thanks to the superior returns they offer compared to secure government bonds and the lively economic situation in the industrial sector, corporate securities are attractive.”

Creditworthiness also plays an important role, however, thanks to the returns that can be achieved. Bank Austria Private Banking Manager Danzmayr comments: “Those investing in corporate securities for the first time would be well-advised to go for securities of companies with a lower level of creditworthiness, since first-class credit ratings are already yielding lower returns than the government bonds of core Eurozone countries.”

Erste Bank expert Hollinger also finds reasons to opt for securities with worse classifications: “Shares with ratings below the investment grade field show high liquidity. In addition to this, the low interest environment in the developed economies, better corporate data and falling rates of bankruptcy offer benefits.”

“Corporate papers are now preferable on riskgrounds”

The 10-year gold price in US dollars rose by around 420 percent. For Euro-investors, too, gold has been a good investment, yielding a return of some 250 percent. Despite the strong price increase, there is still room for it to rise further. UBS expert Witt-Dorring notes: “The gold price could rise to 1,650 dollars per ounce over the next year. For this forecast to come true, however, investor demand and demand for gold jewellery must continue to rise.

Purchases by central banks alone will not lead to higher prices.” To maintain a broad spread, gold should continue to have a place in investors’ portfolios. There are a number of different ways of buying into gold: you can buy physical gold, or invest in exchange traded funds which include gold. In addition to this, investors can buy gold shares. As Vontobel expert Landesmann puts it: “Gold plays the role of a buffer against risk during crisis situations.

We are currently recommending to conservative investors that they put seven percent of their entire investment in gold and gold exchange traded funds. Since gold shares depend on the stock exchange trend, however, they don’t offer the same diversification benefit as physical gold.” RCM Head Bauer recommends that five percent of your money be kept in gold. Bauer: “If you want a broader spread, you should invest in gold and raw materials funds such as Raiffeisen Active Commodities.”

Source: https://bulgaria.doholiday.com/money-interest/

The North American imperialism

Now that the common enemy, the North

American imperialism, threatens world peace by agressive actions against

Nicaragua and by interfering in the international affaire of Salvador and other

countries in the world, it is necessary for all peoples to unite their efforts

and to reject the warmongering and reckless policy of the government of the USA.

Our peoples fought in order to win peace.

Now we have to defend and preserve it.

Bulgaria is a country which rendered

Nicaragua its solidarity in support of our efforts for building a new society.

We got acquainted with a fraternal country and identified ourselves with its

people.

Our friendly ties will deepen with every

passing day.

Accept, dear brothers, most heartfelt and

warm congratulations on the occasion of the completion of 1300 years since the

foundation of the Bulgarian state.

We believe that with the entry upon the new

century the goals set by your people, Party and Government will be reached.

Byardo Aroe Castano Commandante of the

Revolution, Coordinator of the Political Commission of the National Leadership

of the Sandinist Front for National liberation of Nicaragua.

TO

COMRADE STANKO TODOROV, CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL

OF MINISTERS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

On the occasion of the 1300th anniversary

from the foundation of the Bulgarian state, I have the pleasant obligation to

convey to you on behalf of my government and on my own behalf most cordial and

warmest regards.

I avail myself of this opportunity to

present to you on the eve of the new year my wishes for your personal happiness

and for the prosperity of the Bulgarian people.

I wish the relations of friendship and

cooperation that exist between our two countries to further develop for the

benefit of our two nations, as well for the consolidation of the world peace.

With deepest respect,

Col. LouisSylven Goma, Head of the

Government of the People’s Republic of the Congo.

TO

TODOR ZHIVKOV, GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE

CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE BULGARIAN COMMUNIST PARTY AND PRESIDENT OF THE STATE

COUNCIL OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA.

Congratulations on the occasion of the celebrations

Dear Comrade Zhivkov,

I’m sending you my cordial greetings and

congratulations on the occasion of the celebrations of the 1300th anniversary.

We are commemorating this anniversary as our own. It is part of the great his

torical heritage of the Bulgarian people, who have accomplished heroic fects in

their glorious history.

Their deeds in the name of freedom,

progress and peaceful coexistence are of everlasting importance both for

Bulgarian history and the history of mankind.

Bulgarians first contact Balkan

The Bulgarians’ first contact with the Balkan Peninsula is dated to the end of the fifth and the beginning of the 6th centuries. They settled gradually in the regions of the former Roman provinces of Moesia, Dacia and Macedonia. The territories had suffered invasions of the Barbarians in the 3rd—5th centuries but the Bulgarians revived them, bringing economic, political and cultural prosperity. The following expressive statement refers to such a prospering country:

“They say that the land of Alexandaros Ogal Sosmanoz [Tsar Yoan Shishman (1371 – 1395)], son of Alexandar [Tsar Yoan Alexandar (1331 – 1371)], is on the bank of the river Tuna [Danube] and belongs to the region of Edirne [Odrin]…

It [the land of the Bulgarians] was a very fertile region. It exported honey, butter and sheep across the world. In general, there were all kinds of goods in it, more than in other regions.”

From Book of Description of the World by Mehmed Neshri. Translated by I. Tataria. Kitab-i Gihannuma, Mehmed Nesri, Ankara, 1949.

Medieval Bulgarian state

The medieval Bulgarian state in Southeastern Europe occupied the lands to the south of the Balkan Mountains in the direction of Constantinople. The dream of conquering the Byzantine metropolis was alive until the death of Tsar Simeon the Great (893 927). The policy of inhabiting the lands in the south-southwest turned out however to be more productive.

The territories south of the Rhodope Mountains to the Aegean Sea and in the west to Morava River, present day Macedonia and parts of Northern Thessaly, Albania, Kosovo were joined at the time of Kan Presian (836 852). These regions and the whole of Moesia and Thrace formed the historical ethnic cultural space of the Bulgarians in Southeastern Europe in the middle Ages.

Most European states

The territories of most European states, including Bulgaria, took shape in the early Middle Age Period. Only the lands of modem Italy and Germany are an exception; they became state territories in the second half of the 19th century.

In most cases, the causes of wars were the defense of territories already possessed, rather than the taking control of new ones with a foreign population. Medieval Bulgarians lived under the impression of occupying vast territories, which they usually referred to as “Upper Land” (Moesia with the lower flows of the rivers Timok and Bulgarian Morava, as well as the plains up to the Carpathian Mountains) and “Lower Land” (Thrace, the Aegean coast and present-day Macedonia). In the period 7- 14th centuries, the Bulgarians who were the most numerous people in the Balkan Peninsula, settled permanently in their ethnic lands.

Source: https://bulgarian.doholidays.com/bulgarians-first-contact-balkan/

Continuing the traditions of this bold struggle

Today, continuing the traditions of this

bold struggle, the Bulgarian Communist Party, under the leadership of its

prominent head, Comrade Todor Zhivkov, is the vanguard of the Bulgarian people

and the inspirer of their persistent and dynamic efforts to build a developed

socialist society in Bulgaria. Your Party, united with the progressive forces

in the whole world, is fighting for lasting peace on the Balkans and in the

world, as well as for social progress of mankind.

The Kampuchean people have followed with

due respect the achievements of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Bulgarian

people at all stages of the construction of socialism in Bulgaria.

Thanks to the international proletarian

cooperation with the fraternal people of Viet Nam, the people of Kampuchea

succeeded in overthrowing, once and for all, the bloodstained regime of Pol

Pot, Jeng Sari and Khien Samphan and is engaded today in transforming the

beautiful land of Angkor into a new proletarian state the People’s Republic of

Kampuchea. Under the leadership of the People’s Revolutionary Party the

revolutionary forces of Kampuchea enjoy the active support of the parties and

the peoples of the fraternal socialist countries in particular Viet Nam, the

Soviet Union and the other countries in the world which value peace and

justice.

The Kampuchean people

Applying great efforts, the Kampuchean people, inspired and deeply convinced in the just political cause of our Party transform their country from the ruins left by the bloodstained regime of Pol Pot with the aim of normalising their life. The Peking Expansionists and reactionary circles in the countries of ASEAN as well as the other reactionary forces, conspire by supporting and fostering the remnants of the followers of Pol Pot, Jeng Sari and Khien Samphan and the other reactionary Khmers.

Their bases are on Thai territory from where they lead extensive sabotage actions aimed at the liquidation of the Kampuchean revolution. But because they are helpless in their attempts to change the situation in Kampuchea by military means they started to plot foul maneuvres in order to tarnish the prestige of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea and the United Nations Organisation thus trying to use this international organisation as a screen for hiding their criminal actions against the Kampuchean people.

Notwithstanding all this Kampuchea is

harmoniously developing in all areas. General and democratic elections were

organised in order to restore the state institutions, in particular the

National Assembly, the State Council and the Council of Ministers. The People’s

power is taking care of the welfare of the people, the agricultural production

is gradually being increased. A certain number of industrial enterprises

renewed their work. This year already 1.5 million school children attended

classes; the studies at institutions of higher education were also renewed, the

literacy compaign cove red the whole country. The national culture is being

revived; from day to day the public health services improve.

The Story In It Part 3

Mrs. Dyott just waited, and it had the effect, indescribably, of making everything that had gone before seem to have led up to the (piestion. This effect was even deepened by the way she then said, “Whom do you mean?”

“Why, I thought you mentioned at luncheon that Colonel Voyt was to walk over. Surely he can’t.”

“Do you care very much?” Mrs. Dyott asked.

Her friend now hesitated. “It depends on what you call ‘much.’ If you mean should I like to see him then certainly.”
“Well, my dear, I think he understands you’re here.”

“So that as he evidently isn’t coming,” Maud laughed, “it’s particularly flattering! Or rather,” she added, giving up the prospect again, “it would be, I think, quite extraordinarily flattering if he did. I’ixcept that, of course,” she subjoined, “he might come partly for you.”

“ ‘Partly’ is charming. Thank you for ‘partly.’ If you are going upstairs, will you kindly,” Mrs. Dyott pursued, “put these into the box as you pass?”

Living Reproach

The younger woman, taking the little pile of letters, considered them with envy. “Nine! You are good. You’re always a living reproach!” Mrs. Dyott gave a sigh. “I don’t do it on purpose. The only thing, this afternoon,” she went on, reverting to the other question, “would be their not having come down.”

“And as to that you don’t know.”

“No I don’t know.” But she caught even as she spoke a ra-tat-tat of the knocker, which struck her as a sign. “Ah, there!”

“Then I go.” And Maud whisked out.

Mrs. Dyott, left alone, moved with an air of selection to the window, and it was as so stationed, gazing out at the wild weather, that the visitor, whose delay to appear spoke of the wiping of boots and the disposal of drenched mackintosh and cap, finally found her. He was tall, lean, fine, with little in him, on the whole, to confirm the titular in the “Colonel Voyt” by which he was announced.

But he had left the army, and his reputation for gallantry mainly depended now on hia fighting Liberalism in the House of Commons. Even these facts, however, his aspect scantly matched; partly, no doubt, because he looked, as was usually said, un-English.

His black hair, cropped close, was lightly powdered with silver, and his dense glossy beard, that of an emir or a caliph, and grown for civil reasons, repeated its handsome color and its somewhat foreign effect. His nose had a strong and shapely arch, and the dark gray of his eyes was tinted with blue. It had been said of him in relation to these signs that he would have struck you as a Jew had he not, in spite of his nose, struck you so much as an Irishman.

Source: https://bulgaria.doholiday.com/the-story-in-it-part-3/

The Thracians and Philip of Macedon

For a short period of time the Thracians

fell under the domination of Philip of Macedon and of his son Alexander the

Great. After two centuries of heroic resistance they were conquered about the

middle of the first century A. D. by the powerful Roman Empire. The

long-continued domination of the Romans has left lasting vestiges in Bulgaria:

roads, aqueducts, temples, public baths, masterpieces of ancient art, whole

cities.

The so-called Great Migration of Peoples

which started in the 4th century affected the Balkan Peninsula as well.

Barbarian hordes of Goths, Huns, Avars and other tribes passed through it,

leaving desolation and ruins behind them. The Roman Empire, torn by internal

contradictions, could not resist the impact of the Barbarians and in the year

395 disintegrated into two parts – Western, whose capital was Rome, and

Eastern, with Constantinople (Byzantium, present-day Istanbul) for its capital.

In 476 the Western Roman Empire was destroyed by the Barbarian tribes, while

the Eastern Roman Empire continued to exist for still another millennium under

the name of Byzantine Empire.

Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians

The Slavs were of the Indo-European stock

of peoples, to which the German, Baltic-Slav, Greek, Celtic, Iranian and Indian

tribes belonged. During the third millennium B.C. they inhabited a vast region

in Eastern and Central Europe, bordering on the River Dnepr in the east, by the

River Oder in the west and the Carpathian Mountains in the south. In the late

2nd and early 3rd century A. D. the Slavs began to move to the south and by the

end of the 5th century they had settled in the plain between the Danube and the

Carpathian Mountains. The Slav tribes which inhabited the territory near the

estuary of the Danube and to the east of it were called Antae and those living

in the lands of present-day Romania and Hungary – Slavini.

In the early 6th century, numerous Slav

contingents began to cross the Danube, and to return with rich booty. Their

daring incursions could not be stopped either by the fortified strongholds

along the Danube and in the Balkan Range, or even by the Long (Anastasius’)

Wall built to defend the immediate approaches to the Byzantine capital. At the

end of the same century, under the pressure of the powerful state of the Avars

founded in Pannonia (present- day Hungary) and of new barbarian tribes coming

from

Bronze helmet of a Thracian warrior the

east, the Slavs began to settle in the depopulated areas of the Balkan

Peninsula, and even as far as the Aegean islands and Asia Minor. Because of

their common language, religion and way of life, the Slav tribes which settled

in Moesia (between the Balkan Range and the Danube), Thrace and Macedonia

became known later as the Bulgarian Slavic Group, to be distinguished from the

Serbo-Croatian Group which formed the western wing of the Southern Slavs.

Holy Roman Empire

The territory from the Black Sea to the Adriatic Sea and from the Wallachian Lowland to the Aegean Sea has an area of about 240,000 square kilometers and is the biggest territory of the Bulgarians in

Southeastern Europe. Until the end of its medieval statehood (the end of the 14th century), Bulgaria was among the first five European monarchies in terms of territory together with Russia, Byzantium, France and the Holy Roman Empire (the latter often being a conglomerate of semi dependent feudal kingdoms).

As in Antiquity, in the Byzantine and in the Bulgarian medieval periods and during the modem era, the population on the coasts of the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea is not mono ethnic. It is usual to encounter bi ethnic and bilingual or multi ethnic and multi linguistic coasts with an official language, which is the one of the milling state.

The above-mentioned coastal parts played the role of a contact zone for the interior regions. It is there that cultures and civilizations meet for the first time and continue to live together. Contact zones are the spaces of synthesis where urban culture accumulates the latest achievements of the period.

Until the emergence of Danube Bulgaria (681), the Bulgarians and the Slavs lived around water basins and used to cross them. Their river and sea culture was not only their livelihood but also brought in military aggression. Fanagoria (present day Kerch), the capital of Kubrat’s Bulgaria lay in a very important strategic and commercial place by the sea.

8th century under Kan Tervel

On the other hand, the indigenous sea culture was, no doubt, quite strong. Therefore, it is normal to expect that as early as the beginning of the 8th century under Kan Tervel (700-721), Bulgaria, which already controlled the western Black Sea coastal area to the north of the Balkan Mountains, would initiate a purposive policy of colonization of the lands to the south of the Balkan Mountains. In 705, the Bulgarian miler obtained the region of Zagore (between the towns of Sliven, Yambol and the Black Sea) from Justinian II (685 695; 705 711). In 716, Theodosius HI (715 717) ceded new territories in the south to Bulgaria. They bordered on Mount Strandzha to the east.

The occupation of the coastal areas to the south of the Balkans became stable under Kan Krum (802-814). In 812, the Kan conquered Debelt and the Black Sea ports of Anhialo, Sozopol and Nesebar. It j should be mentioned that Nesebar, which is on a peninsula, was taken by siege. It is not possible to think that it was taken along the narrow strip of firm land (now artificially built) without the attack of Bulgarian ships from the seaside.

In fact, the ships are depicted on the walls of Pliska and later in Preslav and other parts of the Bulgarian northeast. Thus, the south direction of advancement towards the Aegean Sea began. In the same year, 812, Kan Krum reached the important town of Philipi on the Aegean coast near present day town of Kavala.

Source: https://sofia.istanbulgaria.info/holy-roman-empire/

Clean Old Gentleman

He was a genial, fresh colored, not over clean old gentleman, between seventy and eighty; he had a long, white beard, and was clad in a singularly shabby and musty black surplice, with the usual tall, straight, black, round chimneypot hat on his head. He gave us coffee and mastik, smoked the cigarettes we offered him, and, both in his look and manner, resembled the landlord of a country tavern rather than an ecclesiastical dignitary of high rank. One of our party spoke Turkish fluently, and as the prior was a Bulgarian who had been born, and had lived the greater part of his life, in Macedonia, the language of the Turks was as familiar to him as his own. He informed us that he had been compelled to quit Macedonia some twelve years ago because he had given political offence, and that he had then come to Bulgaria, where he had been kindly received and appointed to the priorship of the convent. He seemed to entertain as bitter an animosity against the Turks as was consistent with a very good humoured and easy-going disposition.

Schools in Macedonia

On our referring to the recent withdrawal by the Sultan of the edict concerning the schools in Macedonia, which had given such offence to the Bulgarians, he observed that even if the Turks ever happened to do what was right one day, they always did what was wrong the next. He added that the grievances of Macedonia would never be removed till the Turks had been driven out of the country. It seemed to me he was much more interested in our questions about the crops and about the accommodation he could offer to visitors, than he was when the conversation turned upon political or ecclesiastical matters. He informed us that he had a stipend of £320 a year from the State; that, besides this, he made a certain amount of money by his farm and poultry-yard, and still more by letting the rooms of the convent during the summer months.

He also got a little but, as he added, a very little from the fees and offerings of the village hard by, whose parish church was the convent chapel. He complained also that out of his stipend he was compelled to pay the services of a coadjutor pope, and to keep the church in repair. What he may have paid the curate I cannot say, but from the look of the chapel, which the prior took us to visit, it must have been long years since a penny had been laid out on repairs of any kind. The chapel, the prior assured us, had been built between five and six centuries ago, before the Turks had conquered Bulgaria.

Bulgarian civil courts

The Metropolitan was tried and convicted by the civil courts, and sentenced to enforced confinement in a monastery, or, in other words, to imprisonment Last February, an appeal was made to the Superior Court to quash the conviction on the ground of non-jurisdiction. The appeal was dismissed, and the Metropolitan was left imprisoned for a few weeks, after which he was released on a pardon being granted him by the Prince.

Bishops complain

The priesthood, almost without an exception, are taken from the peasant class. Under the present regime a school has been established for the purpose of educating the lads who are designed for Holy Orders. The experiment has not proved very successful, and the Bishops complain that they find great and increasing difficulty in filling up the ranks of the clergy. I believe this is mainly due to the fact that, under the public school system, the scholars acquire an education which induces them to prefer the pursuits of civil life to those of the Church. I am told, too, that the post of Pope, as the village priests are called, has become much less attractive than it used to be owing to the changed conditions of the country. In the Turkish days the Pope was usually given the privilege of keeping the village liquor store.

This is now altered, and the Popes, therefore, are neither so well-to-do nor so influential in position as they were formerly. Moreover, in Bulgaria, as in most other countries where the Greek Faith is the national religion, the priesthood is almost always recruited from the lower ranks of the community. Ritual, as I have said, is more important than dogma; to intone well is a gift of more value to a parish priest than to possess the power of preaching.

The high aspirations which, in other lands, lead men to become ministers of the sanctuary in the hope of saving souls, can hardly find much scope in a church where the possession of a fine figure and a flowing beard are indispensable requisites for high ecclesiastical preferment The ranks of the priesthood are, therefore, naturally filled up by the sons of the poorer peasants, to whom the small stipend of their cure secures an income, on which they can marry, have families, and lead a life of what, to them, seems comfort In fact, the Bulgarian clergy bear a considerable resemblance to what I think the Irish priesthood would be, if they were allowed to marry and were paid by the State.

As things are, the village Popes, during the greater part of the year, lead the lives of ordinary Bulgarian peasants; and it is only on Sundays, feast-days, and special occasions that their clerical functions differentiate them from their neighbors. Thus, while their spiritual authority is weak, their social influence is very great in a community mainly composed of small peasant proprietors of their own class and race and creed* So long, therefore, as the general policy of the Government is in accordance with the traditions, aspirations, and prejudices of the Bulgarian people, it can count confidently on the support of the national priesthood.

Cyclical Calendar

The cyclical calendar, as an embodiment of the idea of the “eternal circle”, is also a possible solution to the difficult metaphysical problem of “eternity-time”.

Of course, the ancient Bulgarian calendar r not the only cyclical calendar but it remain: incomparable with its accuracy and functionality to this day. The attempts to attribute its origin to Chinese or Turkic influences have proved futile. A Chinese geographic tractate of the 10th century includes an announcement of the 7th century, stating that the Chinese noted as an interesting fact the use of a 12-year cycle for calendar purposes by the population between Samarkand and Buhara. For them, the 12- year animal cycle as a calendar system outside the 60-year cycle was unknown until the time of the Han dynasty (206 BC-25 AD) when it was included in the Chinese calendar system under the influence of their western neighbors.

A vivid proof of the long-term spiritual links and loans which the Bulgarians kept in the Indo-Iranian world and beyond it, is in the chess figures found on the territory of Danube and Volga Bulgaria. The game of chess has been considered a sublime achievement of the aristocracy and the clergy since Antiquity. It was made possible because of contacts at the highest intellectual and philosophical-mathematical level.

Uranic Earth arrangement

The invention of the precise Uranic- Earth arrangement of time on the basis of the mathematical 12-digit pattern of the Cosmos is the result of the active cultural interactions of the Bulgarians with other historical partners at a similar or at the same level of spiritual development. The calculation, use and dissemination of that well designed model of sun calendar are not only an achievement of one advanced civilization. That is a proof of the exceptionally powerful centralized ruling institution, which controls also the scholar priests in the epoch before the year 300 BC.

This conclusion is supported by the dynastic 12-year cyclical calendar which is documented by an exceptional written source, the Name-List of Bulgarian Kans. The manuscript was found in the 19th century in a collection of Russian texts. It is a chronology of the reign of 13 Kans.

Source: https://www.doholiday.com/cyclical-calendar/

French procedure in Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, as in all countries where the judicial system is based on French procedure, great importance is attached to there being at least not less than three judges on the bench. The multiplicity of judges is supposed to secure a better chance of a fair trial, and also a greater uniformity of sentences, than could be expected under the jurisdiction of a single judge. In all the courts above the District Courts there are always three or more judges to hear every case that is brought before them. The difficulties of locomotion and the long distances which divide town from town, and even village from village, render any amalgamation of the courts extremely difficult.

The total number of judges is very large in proportion to the population; and the salaries paid them are, according to our notions, very small. Indeed, a considerable increase of judicial salaries is recognized as one of the reforms which ought to be undertaken as soon as the revenue admits of any large additional expenditure. It is obvious, even to the Bulgarian peasants, that poorly paid judges are less likely to be independent and honest than judges who are comparatively above the reach of pecuniary temptation.

The evils, however, of an underpaid judiciary are less flagrant here than might have been expected. All salaries, private as well as public, are necessarily low in a country where there is no wealthy class, and where the national instincts are penurious. Moreover, official rank possesses an exceptional importance in a State where there are few other social distinctions. Judicial posts are therefore eagerly sought after, even though the pay is poor. At any rate, the courts seem to command public confidence.

Urgently needed in Bulgaria revisal

Another legal reform which is urgently

needed in Bulgaria is the revisal of the laws affecting

public companies. The present law does not contain the modifications introduced

into the French Code with respect to Joint Stock Associations. This is the more

to be regretted as the advantages of SociMs anonymes, or, more correctly

speaking, of Co-operative Societies, are becoming recognized in Bulgaria.

Throughout the provinces a number of associations have been formed of late

years for the purpose of carrying on local industries. The members of these

associations, who are mostly small farmers, pay so much a month as a

subscription to the fund; and the funds thus subscribed constitute the capital

out of which the industries in question are carried on for the benefit of the

subscribers. The majority of these local associations have proved fairly

successful; and if money ever becomes more plentiful in Bulgaria, there will, I

think, be a large develop-ment of co-operative enterprise. This development

would be greatly facilitated if the French laws with regard to limited

liability, in their modified form, were made applicable to Bulgaria. Still,

even if this was done, it would not be very easy for foreign companies to take

an independent part in the exploitation of the great natural resources of the

country. Yet, owing to the absence of local wealth and experience, it is only

by the aid of foreign enterprise and foreign capital that these resources can

be rapidly developed. I am assured that, though in theory there is no reason

why foreign capital should not be employed here in local industries with great

advantage, there are in practice various obstacles which cannot well be

overcome.

Bulgarian civilization values

If the goal of a group of people, united in a nation and organized in a state, is to be historically active in order to be creative, that group can create a culture. Culture, as behavior, is the actual task of a nation under any circumstances of its existence. It incorporates a divine spark when it teaches love of man.

The values of the Bulgarian civilization, which create the Bulgarian state of the spirit, are rooted firstly in the tradition of mutual coexistence. It was boom and established as early as the original fatherland in Central Asia. It is the source of the urban way of living, not in centers of the ancient Greek type (poleis, which were always victims of separatism), but in centralized, united dynastic countries. Slavery and slave trade did not exist in the urbanized fortified settlements of the Bulgarians.

Man was granted the status of a free citizen, soldier and owner; the rights of women were guaranteed, which is a mark of democracy in society. Archaeological evidences and written sources, referring to Antiquity and the whole medieval period, to the Ottoman rule, to Bulgarian Revival and the Modem Time, prove explicitly that in the towns and villages in any Bulgarian territory there were people of different origin and social status, who lived, worked and worshipped God as free men.

Bulgarian civilization denounced

The fact that Bulgarian civilization denounced and never employed slavery in the early period of its development explains the lack of glorious monuments of the Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Roman type and reveals the national psychology of the

Bulgarians. They are known as freedom- loving, adamant, stable people who defend their community and state. In battle, they fight for their freedom as free men.

From their Eurasian homeland, the Bulgarians brought a solid tradition of spirituality, which harmonizes the divine and the human. This cult of the equilibrium in the Universe and in society materializes in the ritual complex in the rocks near the village of Madera, Shumen Region. Madera Horseman is still an unsolved symbol of Bulgarian statehood.

The hypotheses regarding the connection of this monument to the institutions and statehood, to religion and the cult of the horseman, to the calendar and time or, indeed, to all of these, attest its semantic richness. According to latest research, the rock image of Madera Relief can be defined as a horoscope with parallels in Egypt, Syria and other ancient states. A precisely timed monument and event are encoded in the relief composition, which are of grandiose importance to Bulgarian statehood.

Source: https://istanbulgaria.info/bulgarian-civilization-values/

Not materially

Morally, though I am bound to say not materially, they were one and all redolent of the soil. In the play-ground they were taking lessons in drilling while I was visiting the school, and I was struck with the regularity of their movements, as well as with their likeness to the soldiers of the Bulgarian army, who always remind me of ploughboys in uniform, brave, doubtless, strong, and active, and yet with little or no presence to what the French call the tenure militaries; The professors are, without an exception, Bulgarians who have received their education either at Robert College, Constantinople, or in Roumania, Austria, France, and Russia. One of them had been a student in the Applied Sciences Department of King’s College, London, and spoke English admirably. But the majority, I should say, had little knowledge of any language other than those common to most Bulgarians. It should, however, be remembered that the knowledge of Bulgarian gives a man of education complete command of Russian literature.

At the ordinary elementary schools the salaries paid to the masters are liberal, according to the Bulgarian standard, varying as they do from fifty to eighty pounds a year; but the professors in the high schools are comparatively poorly remunerated, the highest salary being two hundred pounds.

As far as I could learn, they have little opportunity of adding to their incomes by giving private lessons out of school hours. Still, the present system works so satisfactorily that even parents who could afford the expense of sending their children to be educated abroad now keep them at home, unless they wish their education in some special branch to be carried beyond the limits provided by the high schools. In Bulgaria there is a great prejudice against the importation of professors and teachers from abroad whenever this can possibly be avoided.

At present the class of educated Bulgarians who could adequately fill the professorial chairs of a degree-granting University is so small as to be practically non-existent It is hoped, however, that as soon as the crack pupils of the native gymnasiums have completed their special studies in foreign lands, it may be possible to found native universities under native tuition; in that event, the present high school of Philippopolis will probably be converted into a university.

The girls school

The girls school, though inferior in accommodation and internal arrangements to the

boys’ gymnasium, is a solid, comfortable building. The class of instruction

given is very much the same in both schools, but at the former it does not

extend nearly so far as in the latter, and far less attention is devoted to

abstract studies. All I can say is that I visited several class-rooms in which

the girls wrote very well from dictation, and worked out a number of difficult

sums with great readiness and accuracy.

INDUSTRIES AND TRADES

SKETCH OF THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE

PRINCIPALITY

BULGARIA is an agricultural country. The

prosperity of the inhabitants depends almost entirely on the harvests, which in

consequence serve as a criterion for judging the economic state of the country.

The consequences of a good or bad harvest are felt not only in agricultural

circles but in commerce, trades, and industries, and this to such an extent

that to judge whether the harvest of any year was good or bad one has only to

look at the statistics of trade with other countries. The extent of foreign trade

is in direct proportion with the crops : a good harvest is followed by a great

increase of trade with foreign countries, which a bad harvest almost

immediately paralyses.

It is easy to see the truth of this

statement from the following table, where the figures for grain export are

compared with the figures for the general foreign trade (both import and

export) for a period of ten years.

Yew.      Imports.

Francs. Exports.

Francs. Total.

Francs. Export

of cereals. Francs.

Z894 ..  99,229,193          72,850,675          172,079,868        55,871,305

1895 ..  69,020,295          77,685,546          146,705,841        60,473,405

1896 ..  76,530,278          108,739,977        185,270,255        94,089,072

1897 ..  83,994,236          59,790,511          143,784,747        46,418,601

I898 ..   72,730,250          66,537,007          139,267,257        48,491,343

Year.     Imports.

Franca. Exports.

Francs. Total.

Francs. Export

of cereals. Francs.

1899 ..  60,178,079          53,467,099          113,645,178        32,801,247

1900 . . 46,342,100          53,982,629          100,324,729        27,128,280

I9OI . .   70,044,073          82,769,759          152,813,832        51,717,228

1902 ..  71,246,492          103,684,530        174,931,022        63,699,691

1903 ..  81,802,281          108,073,639        189,876,220        74,215,803

Importance of our foreign trade

On the other hand the importance of our foreign trade may be estimated by the operations of the Bulgarian National Bank, which is chiefly occupied with exchange and current accounts operations. It has been established during the last ten years that the exchange operations and the amount of current accounts which correspond to years with good harvests differ considerably from those of years with poor crops. This may be seen from the following table :   

Whatever may be the importance of the

agricultural exports—and the progress made in the development of this branch

gives confident hope for the future—Bulgaria cannot be called a rich country.

As in all agricultural countries, our sole source of national wealth is the

land. Industries are only beginning; agriculture itself is carried on by the

expansive system, whereas it is the intensive system which is generally a

characteristic of rich agricultural countries and advanced cultivation.

EXPORT OF BULGARIA

The following tables show the amount

exported to different countries in the years 1903, 1901, 1897, and 1894.

EXPORT OF COARSE CLOTHS

                Kilofr.    1993 „

Frt.         Kilogr.   19U.

Fn.

Austria                 354         29,360   5,603     15,704

Roumania          

2,111    4,780     5,167     25,794

Servia                   18,515   43,035   19,649   49,207

Turkey                

25,035  56,824   31,730   82,619

                               897.                       94.

Austria                

6,977    24,135   6,820     25,488

Roumania           8,880     25,182   4,849     14,124

Servia                   17,161   56,618   16,584   65,894

Turkey                 29,147   103,563                69,450   283,949

            EXPORT OF

SERGES   

                               903.                       X90X.

Austria                 —           —           698         2,100

Roumania           1,200     2,130     1,390     4,478

Servia                   7,898     26,670   4,941     19,053

Turkey                

320,412               1,603,060            380,618                1,532,322

                               897.                       894.

Austria                 —           —           87           436

Roumania           839         3,497     9,659     27,583

Servia                   1,646     7,234     2,075     9,360

Turkey                 233,162                906,896                227,200                998,122

EXPORT OF CLOTHS AND DYED STUFFS

                               1893.                     1901.

Austria                                 —           —           10           60

Romania              90           1,134     43           374

Servia                   6,636     45,565   92,774   75,478

Turkey                 23           357         225         870

                               1897.                     1894.

Austria                

—          —           —           —

Romania              —           —           1,084     2,911

Servia                  

9,458    59,220   4,674     29,024

Turkey                 73           1,215     18           312

It will be seen that our principal markets

are Turkey, Romania, Servia, and Austria. The latter competes with us, with no

great success, in the manufacture of machine made carpets, imitating our handloom

tapestries, which are mostly sent to Turkey.

But the bulk of the produce is sold in the

country, the exports amounting to two or three million francs per annum, while

the sales at home are about eight million.

The inhabitants who used to wear coarse

cloths, woven at home, are taking to buying readymade clothes. This is another

cause of the decline of house industries. In point of view of quality, the

ceaseless efforts of the manufacturers to improve their wares have met with

every success; Bulgarian cloths and stuffs are in no way inferior to the

foreign article. The import, therefore, was likely to decrease, and it has done

so, as may be seen from the following statistics :

Imports.                                              1890190

Coarse cloths                                    27,228  130,617                45,100

Serges                 

                               14,404   47,094   100,822

Undyed stuffs and cloths             22,754  13,459   4,372

Dyed                                                    1,404,098            1,538,212             1,204,565

Shawls                                                 254,578                224,254                144,034

The limited scope of this work does not

allow us to treat in full the other industries which have been started in the country,

thanks to the constant efforts of the Government, and which are all prospering.

We can best give some idea of them by means of statistics of the factories of

the Principality. The factories in question are those which employ no less than

twenty hands, and whose capitals are over 25,0 francs.

Romania Clayton

Thomas J. Clayton who visited many

countries passed through Bulgaria also. Going from Varna to Ruse and then on to

Romania

Clayton was “surprised” to discover that both Bulgaria and

Romania were “such fertile countries.” He wrote that he “never saw better

pasture lands or wheat fields” anywhere else in the world. These lands reminded

him of the prairie lands of Illinois. He was also surprised to find that there

were no farm houses like in America. The lands, he stated, were “tilled by

peasants who live in miserable little huts, or in villagesOur route lay through

a spur of the Balkan Mountains and was very picturesque very beautiful and

entertainingThe scenery of these mountains is soft and has a soothing rather

than a stirring influence upon the beholder.” The author believed that if peace

prevailed in these parts of the world, Bulgaria and Romania “will soon become

rich and prosperous.”

There are few more accounts by Americans on

Bulgaria. However, they are not much more different than those presented. Many

a time what Americans said about the Bulgarians or for that matter about other

peoples, reflected on their own personal character or how they valued American

culture and way of life. The descriptions presented by these travelers on a

variety of topics, like national character and even the history of Bulgaria are

hardly scientific or correct accounts.

Bulgarian personality

Almost all of these travelers present

nothing but clichés. They did not have the necessary expertise to carefully

analyze the Bulgarian

personality, their ethnic typicalness in terms of common

national cultural values. The frame of reference these travelers used was

founded on their perspective of American history and culture as the

repositories of values of liberty, freedom, democracy, justice, religion,

discipline, industry and progress.

Almost all of the authors sympathized with

the plight of the Bulgarian people under Ottoman domination. They all condemned

the alien system of despotism and many a time showed their preference for

republicanism. The Ottoman system did not permit the development of the

individual, the arts and crafts as well as agriculture and industry. The

authors were aware that the Ottoman state was in its stages of disintegration.

Those who visited Bulgaria before 1878 believed that the Bulgarians would

become free and those who travelled after the liberation of the country praised

the attempts of the Bulgarians to preserve their independence.

Process Mesopotamia

We must now consider more closely the

manner in which these artificial hills come to be created. Any of the mounds

which we have mentioned in the preceding paragraphs would probably serve to

illustrate the broad lines of this process: but those in Mesopotamia will

perhaps serve our purpose best, since they are uncomplicated by the presence of

large stone buildings and at the same time provide examples of some anatomical

eccentricities seldom found elsewhere. This process, then, by which in

antiquity the repeated rebuilding’s of human habitations on a single site

created a perpetually increasing elevation, is by no means difficult to

understand.

The average life of a mud brick building

today seldom exceeds the span of a single generation: and in earlier times,

military conquest or localized raiding on a smaller scale would certainly have

accounted for demolitions that are more frequent. Roofs would be burnt or

collapse and the upper parts of the walls subside, filling the rooms to about a

third of their height with brick debris. Before rebuilding, the site would

usually be systematically levelled, the stumps of the old walls being used as

foundations for the new.

Prehistoric fortresses at Mersin

Thus, after a time, the town or village

would find itself occupying the summit of a rising eminence; a situation, which

had the double advantage of being easily defensible and of affording an

expansive view of the surrounding countryside. One remembers in a connection

how the walls of the little prehistoric fortresses at Mersin in Cilicia were

lined with identical small dwellings for the garrison; and each was provided

with a pair of slit openings from which a watch could be kept on the approaches

to the mound.

What, then, an excavator is concerned with

is the stratified accumulation of archaeological remains, unconsciously created

by the activities of these early builders. By reversing the process and

examining each successive phase of occupation, from the latest (and therefore

uppermost) downwards, he obtains a chronological cross section of the mound’s history,

and can, if circumstances are favorable, reconstruct a remarkably clear picture

of the cultural and political vicissitudes through which its occupants have

passed.

However, it must be remembered that the

procedure, which he adopts, itself involves a new form of demolition. For as

the architectural remains associated with each phase of occupation are cleared,

examined and recorded, they must in turn be removed in order to attend to the

phase beneath. In a Near Eastern mound, the product of an operation of this

sort is often a deep hole in the ground and very little else that could

interest a subsequent visitor to the site of the excavation.

Museum of Pennsylvania

This road of course prolonged itself

through the Taurus passes, where the mounds are rare. However, once the

Anatolian plateau is reached, they start again and increase in size at the

approach to the great cities of Phrygia. The crossing of the Sangarius River is

marked by a colossal mound representing the remains of the old Phrygian

capital, Gordion, and a wide area around it is studded with tumuli covering the

graves of the Phrygian kings.

Excavations by the University Museum of

Pennsylvania in the side of the hill have revealed a gigantic stone gateway,

from which travelers on the Royal Road must have set out on their journey

northward. Half a mile further on, a stretch of the road itself is exposed,

where it passes between the tumuli; and its fifteen foot width of stone

pavement is still perfectly preserved.

(1) A. H. Layard, Nineveh and its Remains.

(2) Published in “Iraq”,

(3) Happening to visit the excavations when

this section of the road had just been located. I found the pavement newly

cleared and, standing in the center of it, the American director, a volume of

Herodotus in his hand, from which he was declaiming the passage in praise of

the Persian couriers who carried the royal dispatches from Sardis to Susa.

Anatolia or Kurdistan

However, it is not only on great highways

of this sort that the purpose of mounds can be identified. In every major

highland valley of Anatolia or Kurdistan, there, probably at a river crossing

or road junction, is a substantial mound; the market town or administrative center

of an agricultural district, which may still be crowned by the ruined castle of

a feudal landlord—the “derebey” of Ottoman times. Scattered elsewhere over the

face of the valley are smaller mounds, which were mere villages or farmsteads.

There are mounds making obvious frontier

posts, and lines of mounds sketching in the communications, which served

military defense systems of the remote past: and there are skeins of more

recent defenses, like the fortresses of Diocletian’s Hines.1 and finally, there

are tiny, insignificant looking mounds standing no more than a few feet above

the level of the plain. In addition, sometimes these prove to be the most

important of all: for they have not been occupied for many thousands of years,

and the relics of their prehistoric occupants lie directly beneath the surface.

Future of Bulgaria

The majority of Americans who wrote on

Bulgaria or visited the country showed energy, curiosity, sense of wonder, and

faith in the future of Bulgaria and mankind even when they

were disappointed in some particular aspect of their travel experience. They considered

knowledge, and their travel experiences important, their individual responses

and reactions significant and worth preserving. Although they were usually

unfamiliar with the Bulgarian language, history and customs, their comments on

the Bulgarian character were generally positive.

It was difficult for the American traveler,

who knew little about the country, to come to terms with the complex cultural

milieu of Bulgarians, Greeks, Turks, etc. and to resolve the difference

sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant between the Balkan mind cushioned on a

multi-layered rich past and a modern American mind formed in the New World free

from the burden of the past.  The

Bulgarians, busy with their struggle to free themselves and maintain their

independence, thought little about and did even less to attract tourists.

For the American tourists the Balkans were

on the periphery of their travel plans. Most of those who visited the country

went there as passers-by and caught only a glimpse of Bulgaria. Bulgaria in the

view of the American traveler was either a peasant society or a society in

transition with many Oriental traits still present. The Bulgarians were

described as simple, natural, methodological, disciplined, and diligent. There

were, of course, some descriptions which were tendentious and even misleading.

The Orthodox Church was criticized, in part, in the belief that this would make

Americans come to the support of the American missionaries working in Bulgaria.

However, the commentaries of these pioneer

American travelers are not without merit. Through sharing their travel

experiences with their countrymen, the American travelers contributed toward

making Bulgaria known to Americans. Although most of the descriptions were

brief, they nonetheless were good enough to create an image of a country with a

long history, a relatively heroic past and a people struggling to free itself,

and modernize its country.

Country west of Mosul

To confirm this, it may be interesting to

quote at random the reactions of a nineteenth century traveler to the

appearance of the country west of Mosul, during a journey in the spring 1840.

Sir Henry Layard had reached the market town called Tell Afar on his way to the

Sin jar Hills, and he describes his surroundings as follows “Towards evening I

ascended the mound and visited the castle….

From the walls, I had an uninterrupted view

of a vast plain, stretching westward towards the Euphrates, and losing itself

in the hazy distance. The ruins of ancient towns and villages arose on all

sides; and as the sun went down, I counted above one hundred mounds, throwing

their dark and lengthening shadows across the plain. These were the ruins of

Assyrian civilization and prosperity. Centuries have elapsed since a settled

population dwelt in this district of Mesopotamia.

Now, not even the tent of a Bedouin could

be seen. “I Layard was of course wrong in thinking only of the Assyrian nation;

for many of the mounds he was looking at were in fact occupied as early as the

sixth millennium B.C. However, he did not exaggerate their number. During a

survey in 1937, I myself recorded the surface pottery from seventy-five mounds

in that area, and these were only a few selected sites, which I could easily

reach by car during a short three weeks reconnaissance.2

However, apart from the close concentration

of mounds in certain areas of this sort, the pattern, which they make, is often

worth observing. AH over Iraq, and for that matter in neighboring countries, a

glance at the disposal of mounds in a landscape will often reveal to one in the

lividest possible manner some aspect of historical geography, whether political

or economic.

Royal Road

The city of Erbil, for instance, (PL. I)

stands within its fortress walls on a mound whose height almost justifies its

local reputation as the “oldest city in the world”: and from its rooftops, over

the undulating plain to the Zaab river crossings.

Which led to Nineveh and the north, one

sees a line of smaller mounds, pointing the exact direction of the age old

caravan route, which the Achaemenian Persians, coming from Susa, prolonged as

far as their new capital at Sardis. They called it the Royal Road, though it

had existed for several thousand years before their time. Wherever it crossed a

wade and there was a source of water, there also, today, there is a mound; and

villages, which make convenient stopping places on the modem motoring road,

crown many of them.

Certain characteristics

Interesting as this illustration is of how

strati graphical formations can be created, this early mention of Egypt must

serve as an occasion to introduce certain reservations regarding that country,

in relation to the subject under discussion. For it should be said at once that

Egypt has certain characteristics which make it less suitable than others do

for the study of mounds.

This is perhaps partly to be attributed to

the abundant supply and general use of building stone, which greatly prolonged

the survival of Egyptian buildings. But it is also partly due to the fact that,

in the narrow valley of Upper Egypt, land is too valuable to allow large ruin

fields of brick buildings to remain derelict; and the fellahin have long since

discovered that the occupational debris with which such ruins are Hide, when

spread over their fields, makes the finest fertilizer available.

Burin any case, those who have approached

the subject of Egyptology will know that archaeology in Egypt, when it took the

form of actual excavation, has always been concerned almost exclusively with

stone temples, tombs and cemeteries. Mounds in Egypt are confined for the most

part to the Delta of the Nile; and, with so much else to attend to, their

excavation has till now been very considerably neglected.

So let us glance once again at the pattern

of countries in which mounds are everywhere found and have been more generally

excavated. From Egypt they spread northward through the Levant and westward

through Anatolia to the Balkans. Eastward they follow the curve of Breasted’s

“crescent” through the rich farmlands in the foothills of the Armenian

mountains to Iraq and Persia and so, southward of the Elburz range, to

Afghanistan and the Indus valley.

Mesopotamia

But the focal point of the whole area,

where mounds are so plentiful that they become the most characteristic feature

of the landscape, is the twin river valley of Mesopotamia which is in fact not

a valley at all but a vast province of partially irrigated alluvial desert. It

is a habit of thought to apply the name Mesopotamia to this basin of alluvium,

which represents half of modem Iraq. But it has come to be known to our own

generation that the first human settlers in this province, the ancestors of the

later Sumerians, were themselves comparative latecomers, and that the

undulating hill country of northern Iraq had a much earlier record of Neolithic

farming communities.

This may help to explain the impression,

which has grown upon one, after long periods of travel in those parts, that the

Assyrian uplands around Mosul and their westward extension through the valleys

of the Khabur and Balik rivers into North Syria must have been the most thickly

populated area of the completely ancient world. Certainly today, they are more

thickly studded with ancient mounds than any other part of the Near East.

Archaeological monument

An alternative situation arises, when an

important building or civic lay out is encountered, of the sort which may

afterwards need to be preserved as an archaeological monument. In this case,

the excavation will merely be extended to cover as much as is required of the

stratum concerned, and if a strati graphical sounding to a greater depth is

required, it will be made elsewhere.

However, to return to the creation and

development of mounds themselves, it would be a mistake to think that the

process is always as simple and straightforward as that already described. A

wide variety of circumstances may serve to disrupt their symmetry and

complicate their stratification.

For instance, the diminishing living space

at the summit or a sudden increase in the settlement’s population may cause the

focus of occupation to move away from its original center. In order to make

this clear, we may at this point enumerate some of the principal variations of

the theme of anatomical development, which are to be found, particularly in

Mesopotamian mounds.

Orthodox sequence

As a point of departure then, let us take

the orthodox sequence of developments illustrated in the upper part of Fig. 1.

This diagram represents the habitation of a village community with a static

population. The superimposed remains of five principal occupations have

gradually created a small artificial hill: but as the site of the village rose

in level, the building space on the summit became more and more restricted by

the sloping sides of the mound.

It may well have been for this reason that

the place was eventually abandoned. In any case, after the inhabitants of the

fifth settlement had departed, the ruins of their houses were molded by the

weather to form the peak of a symmetrical tumulus. Vegetation started to grow

upon it, and soon all traces of occupation had disappeared beneath a shallow

mantle of humus soil.

The second and third diagrams in Fig. I

both illustrate cases where the focus of occupation has shifted. The former

represents a phenomenon, which we shall later have an opportunity of studying

in detail at a particular site tell Hassuna in northern Iraq, which will

provide a perfect example.

I in the diagram, after five principal

periods of occupation, a small mound has been formed in a maimed exactly

similar to that in the previous instance. However, from this point onwards,

occupation has continued, not on the summit of the mound, since that had become

inadequate, but terraced into its sloping flank and spreading over an extended

area of new ground beneath.

Anti Russian and pro German

He was surprised to see in the Eiffel

Restaurant the waiters “puffed tobacco smoke as they took the guests’ orders,

and reclined at full length on a bench in the lull of business.” He tried to

explain this by making a sarcastic comment that democracy seemed to have made

some headway since the liberation of the country. However, the author liked the

friendliness and great hospitality of the Bulgarian people he met along the

Danube.

Bigelow was anti-Russian and pro-German.

He was very critical of Russia’s policy in Bulgaria and thought that Germany

ought to have the final say in Southeastern Europe. He attempted to explain

Bulgarian politics by quoting an unnamed Bulgarian diplomat critical of Russian

policy toward his country, and hoping that not the Russian Tsar but the German

Emperor would become the “Protector of the Danube.”

James M. Buckley travelled through Bulgaria

in 1888. He believed that each traveler saw “what he took with him,” and for

this reason he thought that his experiences were worth recording because

“several views are more illuminating than one.” In his books Travels in Three

Continents: Europe, Africa, Asia he described his trip through Eastern Rumelia

and Bulgaria.

 “The

view as we rode along was wonderfully beautiful. Villages and towns are far

apart, and one might easily have fancied himself travelling through a

succession of parks connected with some ancestral estate, his only perplexity

that he saw no house or castle, and few persons.” He was impressed by the

“immense masses of granite” that surround and underlie Plovdiv. He praised the

political “independent existence” of Eastern Rumelia which gave “it much more

interest to Western travelers than would have if still a province of Turkey.”

Bulgarian Orthodox Church

He took part in a convention in Sofia of

the Bulgarian Protestants and was impressed with their work. However, like

Mutchmore, he was very critical of the Bulgarian Orthodox

Church. In his view the Bulgarian Church “was a very low form of

Christianity,” for which the principles of the Gospel were “concealed under the

mask of superstitions; no intelligible instruction is given; pomp, ceremony,

priest craft, support the religion, which exerts little influence over the

daily lives of the people, and can afford little or no comfort in their

experience of privation and toil.”

Sofia, the capital city, did not impress

him much. Were it not for the palace, one or two elaborate hotels of an Eastern

style, and the Bulgarian letters on the signs, he wrote, it would be easy to

“mistake the place for an American prairie town already endeavoring to put on

the airs of a city.” He was more impressed by the fertility of the land, the

number of rivers which flew into the Danube and with the herds of cattle and

flocks of sheep. Many Bulgarians, he wrote, were very “striking-looking men.”

However, the general aspect of the country was “not one of prosperity, and a

primitive scene was that of buffaloes drawing carts.”

State of the Matharas

The most important of them is the state of

the Matharas, who are also called Pitribhaktas. At the peak of their power they

dominated the area between the Mahanadi and the Krishna. Their contemporaries

and neighbors were the Vasisthas, the Nalas and the Manas.

The Vasisthas ruled on the borders of

Andhra m south Kalmga, the Nalas in the forest area of Mahakantara, and the

Manas in the coastal area m the north beyond the Mahanadi. Each state developed

its system of taxation, administration and military organization.

 The

Nalas, and probably the Manas, also evolved their system of coinage. Each

kingdom favored the brahmanas with land grants and even invited them from

outside, and most kings performed Vedic sacrifices not only for spiritual merit

but also for power, prestige and legitimacy.

Elements of advanced culture

In this period elements of advanced culture

were not confined to the coastal belt known as Kalmga, but appeared in the

other parts of Orissa. The find of the Nala gold coins in the tribal Bastar

area in Madhya Pradesh is significant. It presupposes an economic system in

which gold money was used in large transactions and served as medium of payment

to high functionaries. Similarly the Manas seemed to have issued copper coins,

which implies the use of metallic money even by artisans and peasants.

The various states added to their income by

forming new fiscal units in rural areas. The Matharas created a district called

Mahendrabhoga in the area of the Mahendra Mountains. They also ruled over a

district called Dantayavagubhoga, which apparently supplied ivory and no gruel

to its administrators and had thus been created in a backward area.

The Matharas made endowments called

agroharas, which consisted of land and income from villages and were meant for

supporting religious and educational activities of the brahmanas. Some

agraharas had to pay taxes although elsewhere in the, country they were tax-free.

The induction of the brahmanas through land grants in tribal, forest and red

soil areas brought new lands under cultivation and introduced better methods of

agriculture, based on improved knowledge of weather conditions.

Formerly the year was divided into three

units, each consisting of four months, and time was reckoned on the basis of

three seasons. Under the Matharas, in the middle of the fifth century began the

practice of dividing the year into twelve lunar months. This implied a detailed

idea of weather conditions, which was useful for agricultural operations.

Spread of Civilization in Eastern India

Signs of Civilization

A region is considered to be civilized if

its people know the .art of writing, have a system for collecting taxes and

maintaining order, and possess social classes and specialists for performing

priestly, administrative and producing functions. Above all a civilized society

should be able to produce enough to support not only the actual producers

consisting of artisans and peasants but also consumers who are not engaged in

production. All these elements make for civilization. But they appear in a

large part of eastern India on a recognizable scale very late. Practically no

written records are found in the greater portions of eastern Madhya.

Pradesh and the adjoining areas of Orissa,

of West Bengal, of Bangladesh and of Assam till the middle of the fourth century

A.D The period from the fourth to the seventh century is remarkable for the

diffusion of an advanced rural economy, formation of state systems and

delineation of social classes in eastern Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, eastern Bengal

and southeast Bengal, and Assam, This is indicated by the distribution of a

good number of inscriptions in these areas in Gupta times Many inscriptions

dated in the Gupta era are found in these areas.

They are generally in the form of land

grants made by feudatory princes and others for religious purposes to Buddhists

and brahmanas and also to Vaishnavite temples and Buddhist monasteries. These

beneficiaries played an important role in spreading and strengthening elements

of danced culture the process can be understood by attempting a region wise

survey.

Orissa and Eastern and Southern Madhya Pradesh

Kalinga or the coastal Orissa, south of the

Mahanadi, leapt into importance under Asoka, but a strong state was founded in

that area only m the first century B. C. Its ruler Kharavela advanced as far as

Magadha. In the first and second centuries AD the ports of Orissa carried on

brisk trade m pearls, ivory and muslin.

Excavations at Sisupalgarh, the site of

Kalinganagari which was the capital of Kharavela at a distance of 60 km from Bhubaneswar,

have yielded several Roman objects indicating trade contacts with the Roman Empire.

But the greater part of Orissa, particularly northern, Orissa, neither

experienced state formation nor witnessed much commercial activity. In the

fourth century Kosala and Mahakantara figure in the list of conquests made by

Samudragupta. They covered parts of northern and western Orissa. From .the

second half of the fourth century to the sixth century several states were

formed in Orissa, and at least five of them can be clearly identified.

Religious purposes

For a century from A D 432-33 we notice a

series of land sale documents recorded on copperplates Pundravardhanabhukti,

which covered almost the whole of north Bengal, now mostly in Bangladesh, Most

land grants indicate that land was purchased with gold coins called dinara. But

once land was given for religious purposes, the dunes did

not have to pay any tax. The land transactions show the involvement of leading

scribes, merchants, artisans landed classes, etc.’., in local administration,

which was manned by the governors appointed by the Gupta emperors.

The land sale documents not only .indicate

the existence of different’ social groups and local functionaries but also shed

valuable light on the expansion of agriculture Mostly land purchased for

religious endowments is described as fallow, uncultivated, and therefore imitated

Without doubt the effect of the grants was to bring plots of land within the

purview of cultivation and settlement.

The deltaic portion of Bengal formed by the

Brahmaputra and called Samatata was made to acknowledge the authority of

Samudragupta It covered southeast Bengal. A portion of this territory may have

been populated and important enough to attract the attention of the Gupta

conqueror.

But possibly it was not ruled by brahmamsed

princes, and consequently it neither used Sanskrit nor adopted the varna

system, as was the case in north Bengal. From about A D. 525 the area came to

have a fairly organized state covering Samatata and a portion of Vanga which

lay on the western boundary of Samatata. It issued a good number of gold coins

in the second half of the sixth century.

Dacca area

In addition to this state, m the seventh

century we come across the state of the Khadgas, literally swordsmen, in the Dacca

area. We also notice the kingdom of a brahmana feudatory

called Lokanatha and that of the Rates, both in the Comilla area all these

princes of southeast and central Bengal issued land grants in the sixth and

seventh centuries.

Like the Orissa n kings they also created

agraharas. The land charters show cultivation of Sanskrit, leading to the use

of some sophisticated meters in the second half of the seventh century. At the

same time they attest the expansion of cultivation and rural settlements. A

fiscal and administrative unit called Daudabhukti was formed in the border

areas lying between Bengal and Orissa. Danda means punishment, and bhakti enjoyment.

Apparently the unit was created for taming and punishing the tribal inhabitants

of that region. It may have promoted Sanskrit and other elements of culture in

tribal areas.

Finally compiled in Gupta

The Puranas follow the lines of the epics,

and the earlier ones were finally compiled in Gupta times. They are full of

myths, legends, sermons, etc., which were meant for the education and

edification of the common people. The period also saw the compilation of

various Smritis or the law books written in verse. The phase of writing

commentaries on the Smritis begins after the Gupta period.

The Gupta period also saw the development

of Sanskrit grammar based on Panini and Patanjali. This period is particularly

memorable for the compilation of the Amarakosa by Amara Sinha, who was a

luminary in the court of Chandragupta II. This lexicon is learnt by heart by

students taught Sanskrit in the traditional fashion.

On the whole the Gupta period was a bright

phase in the history of classical literature. It developed an ornate style,

which was different from the old simple Sanskrit. From this period onwards we

find greater emphasis on verse than on prose. We also come across a few corner tarries.

There is no doubt that Sanskrit was the court language of the Guptas. Although

we get a good deal of brahmanical religious literature, the period’ also

produced some of the earliest pieces of secular literature.

Science and Technology

In the field of mathematics we come across

during this period a work; called Aryabhatiya written by Aryabhata, who

belonged to Patali porta It seems that this mathematician was | well versed in

various kinds of calculations. A Gupta inscription of 448 from Allahabad

district suggests that the decimal system was known in India at the beginning

of the fifth century AD In the fields of astronomy a book called Romaka

Sidhanta was compiled It was influenced by Greek ideas, as can be inferred from

its name.

The Gupta craftsmen distinguished

themselves by their work in iron and bronze. We know of several bronze images

of the Buddha, which began to be produced on a considerable scale because of

the knowledge of advanced iron technology In the case of iron objects the best

example is the iron pillar found at Delhi near Mehraub.

Manufactured m the fourth century A.D., the

pillar1 has not gathered any ’ rust m the subsequent 15 centuries, which is a

great tribute to the technological skill of the craftsmen It was impossible to

produce such a pillar in any iron foundry m the West Until about a century ago.

It is a pity that the later craftsmen could not develop this knowledge further

Turkish girls attend foreign schools in Constantinople

But after all, these changes are

interesting chiefly as indications of the fact that the spirit of Turkish women

has come, to some degree, under the influence of new ideas. Polygamy is on the

decline. Greater attention is now paid to the education of girls among all

classes of the community.

In wealthy families it is common for the

daughters to have English or French or German governesses, and to be instructed

in the ordinary branches of education, even to the extent of doing something so

foreign as to learn to ride. In a few instances, Turkish girls attend foreign schools,

and it is a most significant sign of the times to see the female relatives of

such girls present at the public proceedings of these institutions. Periodicals

providing special literature for ladies have appeared, and there are Turkish

authoresses, some of whom enjoy a great reputation among their countrywomen.

As might be expected, this upward movement

meets with opposition, as upward movements always meet wherever they occur.

Such a thing has been known as an imperial irade, commanding all foreign

governesses to be dismissed from Turkish homes, because teachers of pernicious

ideas. On the eve of Ramadan it is usual to issue strict orders for Turkish

ladies to keep their veils down.

Upon gentleman

A Turkish lady once attended, with her

husband, an “At Home” in a foreign house. Shortly thereafter, the police called

upon the

gentleman, late in the evening, as the custom is in this part

of the world, and informed him that he was wanted at the police-court next

morning on important business.

What that business was the police did not

condescend to say, preferring to make night uncomfortable for the couple, by

keeping them in suspense. Upon appearing at the court, the husband learned that

the visit of his wife to a foreign house, on the occasion referred to, had been

noticed and duly reported to the authorities, and he was warned (under threat

of severe penalty) not to allow the offence to be repeated.

At public gatherings at the Sweet Waters of

Europe and Asia, the police watch the behavior of Turkish ladies as though so

many naughty or helpless children were abroad. One has seen a policeman order a

lady to put up the window of her carriage, because she attracted too much

admiration. At another time, one has seen a company of respectable Turkish

ladies, who were enjoying a moonlight row on the Bosporus, packed home by the

police. The life of educated Turkish women is rendered hard and humiliating by

such restrictions.

Suburbs on the Bosporus

The time-tables of the steamers which ply

between the city and the suburbs on the Bosporus and

the Sea of Marmora, adopt “Turkish time,” and require you to convert the hour

indicated into the corresponding hour from the European or “Frank” standpoint;

and the same two-fold way of thinking on the subject is imposed upon all

persons having dealings with the Government and the native population in

general A similar diversity exists in regard to the length of the year. The

Turkish year consists of twelve lunar months, a thirteenth being added from

time to time to settle accounts with the sun. The question when Ramadan, the

month of fasting by day and of feasting at night begins, or when the festival

of Bagram commences is determined, at least formally, by the appearance of the

new moon, upon the testimony of two Moslem witnesses before a judge in any part

of the Empire.

Different localities

Thus these religious seasons might commence

on different days in different localities, the

moon not being visible in some places, on account of the state of the weather.

The formula in which the approach of these seasons is now announced to the

public, since the increase of astronomical knowledge in Turkish circles, is a

curious compromise between former uncertainty and actual assurance on that

point “Ramadan begins (say) on Tuesday next, provided the new moon is visible.

If not, the Fast will date from Wednesday.” Alongside the

Turkish mode of measuring the year, there

is the method introduced into the Roman world by Julius Caesar, the “Old

Style,” followed by Greeks and Armenians, and also the “New Style,” the mode of

reckoning inaugurated by Pope Gregory XIII., now thirteen days in advance of

the Julian calendar. Accordingly, to prevent mistakes in regard to a date,

letters and newspapers are often dated according to both styles.

With some the year begins in March, with

the advent of spring; with others it commences in September, when autumn

gathers in the fruits of the earth; others make January, in midwinter, their

starting- point The difference between the “Old Style” and the “New Style”

involves two celebrations, as a rule, of Easter, two observances of New Year’s Day,

while Christmas is celebrated three times, the Armenian Church having combined

the commemoration of that festival with the more ancient festival of the

Epiphany. For one section of the community, moreover, the day of rest is

Sunday, for another Saturday, for yet another the day of special religious

services is Friday.