The Avar Khagnate had weakened as a consequence of the internal skirmishes for the throne, the Bulgars had gained strength and in 632 the Utigurs {or Unogonduri, or Unogondurs} broke loose from the Avar khanate. Khan Kubrat, who was from the Dulo {or Dub, or Dubo} clan, belonged to the Utigurs tribe. Attila himself was also from House of Dub, in fact the Dulo clan was a very highly regarded family among all the nomads. Kubrat was now the Khan of the newly independent Unogondur Bulgars, and all the other Bulgar tribes of that region.

Then probably in the period of 632-635 Khan Kubrat succeeds in putting under his rule the Kutrigurs. And now the two most powerful Bulgar tribes are free and united. Then quickly he also succeeds in integrating the Bulgar Kotrags who lived to the west of the river Don. And so Khan Kubrat creates the biggest Bulgarian country ever. To the east it reached out to the river Kuban, to the west to the river Dnepr, to the north to the river Donetsk, and to the south to the Azov and the Black Sea. The capital was the magnificent Fanagoria on the Taman Peninsula.

This newly created union of Bulgarian tribes was called Great Bulgaria.

Kubrat became Khana Subigi {or Suvigi, or any dammed spelling} i.e. Khan of Khans, the second man in the administrative hierarchy, was the Kavkhan. The third man was the Ichirguboyl. Both of them were high-ranking officers in the administration and in the chain of command. In time of war they were in charge of large army units. The practice of combining administrative and military responsibilities was applied to all ranks down the hierarchy ladder, too. Kubrat maintained peaceful relations with the East Roman {Byzantine} empire and was honored with the title of patrician by the Roman Emperor. Upon the death of the emperor in 642 AD, Khan Kubrat supported his widow Martina and their children to whom he had been strongly attached, in their battle for the emperor's throne. According to the Ethiopian chronicler Joan Niciusky, just the news of khan Kubrat backing up Martina and her children had risen in arms in their support the people and the army of Constantinople under a certain Jutalius, the son of Constantine.

Kubrat died in 651 AD. In 1912 an exceptionally rich burial was discovered in the sand dunes of the Vorskla river near the Ukrainian village of Malaya Pereshchepina, 13 km away from the town of Poltava. The deceased was buried in a wooden coffin, set with 250 rectangular gold plates, 6.5x5.5 cm each. A considerable number of utensils made of precious metals (20 silver and 17 gold), arms inlaid with precious metal, a gold horn and a gold spoon - symbols of authority, 69 gold coins, a gold buckle weighing almost half a kilogram, gold rings, etc. were arranged around the body. The find obviously made its first researchers specify the burial as the last abode of not only a rich or high-born chieftain, but also the head of state of any one of the barbarian formations which had possessed those lands for any length of time. The utensils were of no great importance for determining the precise 'age' of the treasure since they had obviously been collected over a 200-year period. However, the 'youngest' coins of emperor Constantine II of Byzantium were dated 647 AD. This gave clear proof that the burial had taken place after that date. The above facts alone lead to the conclusion that of all possible potentates who had ruled tribes or states in those times, khan Kubrat was the one corresponding to the archeological findings concerning the burial near Malaya Pereshchepina. In 1983 Dr W. Seibt of the Byzantine Studies Institute in Vienna managed to puzzle out the monograms on the two gold signet rings as Kkubratu, and Khubratu Patrichiu. There was no further doubt that in 1912 the Russian archeologists had discovered the tomb of khan Kubrat, the founder of Great Bulgaria.And one last attempt:

Kubrat had five sons, but only one of them could become Khan of Khans. The transition from the great ruler Kubrat to who ever would be the new ruler of all Bulgars could lead to infighting amongst prominent clans and/or tribes. If all of that wasn't enough, there were the Khazars too. Yet another one of the ex-Hunish tribes, which broke away from the Avars at about the same time the Bulgars did. The lands of Great Bulgaria were all plains offering no natural shelters, perfect ground for every nomad and damn near impossible to defend. Kubrat's sons were aware that their lands occupied a strategic position at the major junction of routes called the Great Road of the peoples migrating from Asia and Europe, and that even if the Khazar raids against them were stopped and the Khazars completely destroyed, other peoples would soon rush to take their place at lightning speed. And so the sons of Kubrat agreed to split up. The Bulgars split up into many parts, but two Bulgar hordes managed to create states worthy of Great Bulgaria's legacy. Kubrat's son Kotrag, led his Bulgars up the Volga. Asparuh {or Isperikh} led his Bulgars to that land they had liked so much. The one between the great river Danube, the Black Sea and the great mountain that stretched from the river all the way to the sea - the Balkan(see detailed animation).

And one last attempt: