Vivién

"At present, there is no trace left of either Bulgar, or Burtas, or Khazar, for the Rus have exterminated them all, taken all these regions from them and appropriated them for themselves. Those who escaped their hands are scattered to nearby places, out of a desire to remain close to their countries and hoping to make peace with them and submit to them." The Rus have been destroying the culture of the people of my region for centuries, rewriting it in Soviet times so much that now many do not even know the past of their region. And at present, they continue to belittle the significance of my small homeland. I am very saddened by the fact that the culture of my people will disappear even more and be forgotten over time. They have hammered into our heads a culture that is not ours, although our ancestors were unique. They had their own culture, people living in my region professed different religions, there were pagans, Muslims, Christians, they had their own traditions and they all lived peacefully, traded with the Mongols, restrained them, supported trade, domestic and foreign policy. A truly great state that they wanted to forget.... "There were vineyards and gardens, and now only a leaf remains on the stem. The Russians came to it, and there were no grapes or raisins left in the city. That city was inhabited by Muslims, idolaters and followers of other religions, and they left..."