The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.

The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire

Hunnic Empire

The Hunnic Empire was an empire established by the Huns. The Huns were a confederation of Eurasian tribes from the steppes of Central Asia. Appearing from beyond the Volga River some years after the middle of the 4th century, they first overran the Alani, who occupied the plains between the Volga...

 in the 5th century.
Initially, they conquered the Pontic-Caspian steppe

Pontic-Caspian steppe

The Pontic-Caspian steppe is the vast steppeland stretching from the north of the Black Sea as far as the east of the Caspian Sea, from western Ukraine across the Southern Federal District and the Volga Federal District of Russia to western Kazakhstan,...

 and around the lower Volga basin, by the 7th century dispersing further towards Bessarabia

Bessarabia

Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....

. Originating as nomadic equestrians of Central Asia

Eurasian nomads

Eurasian nomads are a large group of peoples of the Eurasian Steppe. This generic title encompasses the ethnic groups inhabiting the steppes of Central Asia, Mongolia, and Eastern Europe. They domesticated the horse, and their economy and culture emphasizes horse breeding, horse riding, and a...

, they became sedentary during the 7th century, establishing the polities (khanates) of Old Great Bulgaria

Old Great Bulgaria

Old Great Bulgaria or Great Bulgaria was а term used by Byzantine historians to refer to Onoguria during the reign of the Bulgar ruler Kubrat in the 7th century north of the Caucasus mountains in the steppe between the Dniester and Lower...

 in the Pontic steppe and Volga Bulgaria

Volga Bulgaria

Volga Bulgaria, or Volga–Kama Bolghar, is a historic Bulgar state that existed between the seventh and thirteenth centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now Russia.-Origin:...

 on the middle Volga.