He was of the house of Dulo, Dub or Duba. He was of Avar paternal line, son of Balt-Avar Alburi, and Bulgar maternal line.
Kubrat was endorsed by Khan Sibir as the first king of Onogur, the 2nd Avar dynasty. Under his and his son Bayan 3's rule, Avaria grew to stretch from the Danube to the Volga rivers. In 619 CE he arrived as hostage in Constantinople and was soon baptized. His maternal uncle Organa (also Organ or Ornag) acted as regent over his tribe the Unogundur until he was old enough to rule. Kubrat established peace with Byzantium, due to his respect for Byzantine culture. He was buried near Poltava (from Balt-Avar, meaning Chief of Avars). His Kurgan was excavated in 1912.
After Kubrat's death, Bezmer (also called Bezmes Bayan and Batbayan) inherited his rule, but soon other "sons" led factions of the once great empire in secession. The first, called Kotrag after the tribes he led, moved up the Volga to found the state of Great Bulgaria. Then Ultzindur or Balkor led a rebel Kuber tribe into Pannonia only to break away and move south. Atilkese, moved southwest from Ukraine with his horde to join these Bulgars south of the Danube and eventually founded the state of Bulgaria there. Emnetzur, who was based in Pannonia sought refuge from the ensuing chaos for his Altsikurs in the west with the Lombards.
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Preceded by: Benzmer |
List of Bulgarian monarchs |
Succeeded by: Tervel |