24th of Raby` al-awal of the year 553 from the Hijra (April 25th, 1158 A.D.)
In this journal I will describe the efforts I make in order to ensure that my descendants are as best prepared as possible for the coming invasion. It is my hope that they will continue this tradition, so when the time comes, the one who will be facing this doom will know that we who came before him did our best to help him. Nevertheless, before continuing to strengthen the realm, I will describe how the lands ruled by our dynasty turned from the Duchy my great grandfather ruled to the three combined Khanates I rule today.
Rule of Duke Akhad I Moshka of Bulgar
My great grandfather Akhad I Moshka inherited his realm almost 100 years ago, at the advanced age of 60 years of life. His father had lived a long life, as he died being 83 years old.
He was in a dangerous location, to say the least. Surrounded by infidels in every direction: the Tengri Cumans to the east and south, the Suomenusko Pagans to the north, and the Orthodox Russians and Romuva Pagans to the west.
My great grandfather´s inherited realm, the Duchy of Bulgar
The first years of his rule he spent bringing stability to the realm, as he suffered some rebellions, but they were quickly put down. He then planned to invade the Duchy of Mordvins, ruled by Romuva infidels, to the south west, but decided to take a pause from this plan to go on his Hajj.
When he returned, he learned that Mordvins was already under attack by the Russian Duke of Rostov, and that the war was close to be won by the Russians. He knew that taking the disputed Duchy from the Russians would be harder than taking it from the Romuva, since a Holy War declared on the Russians would have been likely to attract his fellow Orthodox Christian Dukes to the fight. So, he made a controversial decision, but one that proved to pay off. He declared war on the Duke of Rostov to conquer the county of Nizhny Novgorod (a small county just north of the Duchy of Mordvins), so he had an excuse to storm the holdings taken by the Russians in Mordvins. He did not actually care if he would be able to take Nizhny Novgorod, he just wanted to drive the Orthodox armies off from Mordvins. In the end, and with careful use of his armies as well as mercenaries, he could take the county from the Russians, and later the Duchy of Mordvins from the Romuva.
Regrettably, these wars were exhausting for Akhad, and he passed away not long after he defeated the Romuva, at the age of 75. But he left his heir with a good powerbase for his own endeavors.
Rule of Khan Selim I Kolyn of Volga-Bulgaria
My grandfather, Selim I Kolyn
I have not been able to recover any maps from my grandfather´s time. It was a rule that suffered many wars, and many documents seem to have been lost since then. I do know that during his rule, Duke Selim I claimed the title of Khan of Volga-Bulgaria. He expanded the Khanate to the north, taking lands from the Suomenusko infidels, as well as to the south west, taking lands the Russian Duke of Ryazan had taken himself from the Tengri Cumans.
He also repelled an invasion by one of the Khan of Cumania´s vassal, the High Chief of Itil. It was a bloody war, but the compensation the High Chief was forced to give my grandfather after his defeat was of great use to fund a new invasion of the Duchy of Rostov, which had grown to be a powerful enemy. But, Alas, Khan Selim I would not see this war to its end, for an illness took him in the year 485 Hijra (1092 A.D. in the Christian calendar), leaving his heir Ituk, merely a 10 years old boy, with a war to handle.
Rule of Khan Ituk I "The Just" of Rus
My father, Ituk I "The Just"
My father´s rule was a glorious one. However, his first years as Khan were spent learning how to rule from his guardian and regent, the Court Imam, who had previously served his father. During this time, his regent continued to fight the war with Rostov according to the plans left by Khan Selim I before his death. The war ended with victory for Volga-Bulgaria shortly after my father turned 16.
Many felt Khan Ituk did not have the neccesary attributes to be a great ruler, but he was young and determined, and he proved to be more resourceful than his detractors thought he was. Through many campaigns he expanded the realm further west, decimating the powerful Duchy of Rostov while doing it. Fortunately, the Russians Dukes often got involved in war amongst themselves, which my father took advantage of with great efficiency. Within 30 years, he took so much land from the hands of the Russians that he eventually crowned himself Khan of Rus, an honor his Orthodox neighbours envied greatly.
The realm my father inherited in his childhood
The realm ruled by my father 30 years later
My father´s campaigns against the Russian infidels had been successful, but a great danger lied still to the south and east: the massive Khanate of Cumania. The Tengri infidels posed a risk too big to ignore, but my father knew that he would have to wait for a right time to attack them, as their numbers were too great for a full war.
In the year 518 Hijra (1124 A.D. in the Christian calendar) Khan Ituk I finally saw an opportunity to strike at the heart of the Cuman Khanate, as a terrible civil war erupted within it, when the Khan´s brother tried to seize his throne. My father then took the chance to invade the land from where the Tengri had offended us before: Itil. It was an even bloodier war than the invasion my grandfather had suffered during his rule, as Sunni Cumans battled Tengri Cumans for over 10 years, but finally it was Sunni nobles that occupied the lands south of Bulgar once the dust had settled.
The Tengri Cumans would continue to fight their civil war for another 15 years... a terrible war indeed. This event, coupled with my father´s invasion, marked the beginning of the fall of the once great Tengri Khanate of Cumania.
The war with the Tengri Cumans had taken much of my father´s strength, and he spent his last years in peace, developing his lands and making sure the realm could recover from the long conflict it had suffered. He died being 57 years old, in the year 534 Hijra (1139 A.D. in the Christian calendar), and left me in a much better position than he himself had had when he inherited the realm from his father. He will be remembered as a great leader of our people, I will make sure of this.