- published: 21 Sep 2015
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Phanagoria (Ancient Greek: Φαναγορ(ε)ία) was the largest Greek colony on the Taman peninsula, spreading on two plateaux along the Asian shore of the Cimmerian Bosporus, 25 kilometers (15.5 mi) northeast of Hermonassa. The ancient city became the great emporium for all the traffic between the coast of the Palus Maeotis and the countries on the southern side of the Caucasus, and was chosen by the kings of Bosporus as their capital in Asia, Panticapaeum being their capital in Europe. It is mentioned by Strabo as a "considerable city" in his Geography
Under Kubrat and Batbayan, Phanagoria was the capital of Great Bulgaria.
Phanagoria Island in Zed Islands off Livingston Island, Antarctica is named after Phanagoria.
Phanagoria was founded ca. 543 BC by the Teian colonists who had to flee Asia Minor in consequence of their conflict with Cyrus the Great. The city took its name after one of these colonists, Phanagoras. "The unusual nature of the Taman peninsula near Phanagoria, with its ravines, crevices, hills, and low cones of active volcanoes, must have impressed the ancient colonists even more than it impresses us today", Ustinova has observed.
The Chuvash people (Chuvash: Чăвашсем; Russian: Чуваши) are a Turkic ethnic group, native to an area stretching from the Volga Region to Siberia. Most of them live in Republic of Chuvashia and surrounding areas, although Chuvash communities may be found throughout all Russia.
There is no universally accepted etymology of the word Chuvash. However, there are two main theories that try to explain it.
According to one theory, "Chuvash" is a Shaz-Turkic adaptation of Lir-Turkic Suvar, an ethnonym of people that are widely considered to be the ancestors of modern Chuvashes. Compare Lir-Turkic Chuvash: huran to Shaz-Turkic Tatar: qazan (cauldron).
Another theory suggests that the word "Chuvash" may be derived from Common Turkic jăvaš ("friendly", "peaceful") as opposed to şarmăs ("warlike").
There are rival schools of thought on the origin of Chuvash people. One is that they originated from a mixing between the Turkic Suar and Sabir tribes of Volga Bulgaria with local Mari tribes and also the Finno-Ugrian population of the Volga Basin. Another is that the Chuvash are a remainder of the pre-Volga Bulgar population of the Volga region, merged with Scythians, Volga Bulgars and Mari.